Citizen Journalist: heatwave

Showing posts with label heatwave. Show all posts

Sunday, October 9, 2022

Death of over 65s in England highest in summer 2022 compared to 2004 due to heatwaves

The world is passing through difficult times because of heatwaves. These are the after effects of irregular rainfall, forest fires and global warming. Statistics reveal that 2803 lives have been lost in the 65+ age group during the five "heat periods" of this year's extraordinarily hot summer. This figure does not include deaths due to COVID-19. This is a matter of concern because it happens to be the highest since 2004 when the Heatwave plan for England was introduced. In July, portions of England had to endure temperatures of 40 C and an estimated 1,012 extra people died in that month. The hot weather gave rise to widespread drought apart from wildfires. These had a direct impact on crop harvest. An official of the UK Health Security Agency UKHSA said – “high temperatures can lead to premature death for those who are vulnerable.” She observed, "Higher excess deaths occurred during the hottest days this year and a warming climate means we must adapt to living safely with hotter summers in the future." Excess deaths for over 65s in summer 2022 heatwaves in England highest recorded since 2004. However, the month of August was worse with the death of an estimated 1,458 people aged over 65.

Bob Ward is the policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change. He said the "threat to lives and livelihoods from summer heatwaves is undoubtedly increasing due to climate change.” He urged Prime Minister Liz Truss to "act decisively by initiating a national heat risk management strategy that can be properly put in place ahead of next summer and prevent further unnecessary suffering and death across the country." Obviously, these are the undisclosed side effects of global warming and people have to realize the seriousness.

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

The summer of 2022 was hottest on record in England and it tied with 2018

According to the Met Office, the summer of 2022 was England's joint hottest on record. It was 17.1 C, which was recorded in 2018. The average temperature for the months of June, July and August was the warmest in records dating from 1884. This indicates that most of warmest summers on record for England have occurred since 2003. These are the effects of human-induced climate change. Incidentally, there was the record-breaking heat in July. At that time, the temperature went beyond 40C and was a first in the UK. The heatwave led to a rise in incidents of fire with consequent loss of homes and cars. England just had its joint hottest summer on record - in data that stretches back to 1884. England had to endure its sixth-driest summer on record. It was also the driest since 1995 based on records that go back to 1836.

Drought has gripped much of England. This was the result of insufficient rainfall. In addition, the hot, dry conditions dried up rivers, damaged crops and fueled wildfires. These led to destruction of properties in the form of homes and land. The warnings by the Met Office are clear – England might have to face longer and drier summers. The reason would be climate change. Forecasters have cautioned that the duration of summer-like conditions would increase with corresponding reduction in rainfall. The Environment Agency has already declared a drought in the South West region of England. This could be a matter of concern.

Saturday, August 27, 2022

China uses drones and rockets for cloud seeding to get rainfall

Temperatures have gone beyond 104F in some parts of China for the past week and longer. This has led to a record-breaking heatwave and severe drought ever since China began to maintain records in 1961. Therefore, the authorities decided to go in for cloud seeding to bring rainfall. It involves sowing silver iodide into the clouds. The structure of the chemical is similar to ice and the process is known as cloud seeding. Chance of rainfall increases when droplets of water cluster around these particles. It modifies the structure of the clouds and chance of rainfall increases. An official of the weather modification office of Guizhou in southwest China informed that plans have been drawn up for eight flights to cover the entire province. He explained that Typhoon Ma-on has brought to Guizhou precipitation conditions. Therefore, the aircraft will conduct frequent operations to increase the amount of rainfall. Drones and rockets bring rainfall to China during record-breaking heatwave and severe drought. China dispatched drones over the Sichuan province in the southwest. The aim is to bring rainfall to more than 232 sq/miles of land.

In the Chongqing municipality of southwest China, local authorities made use of rockets to bring rainfall to 20 counties. Similarly, in the Tongan District, 15 rockets were fired six times to bring the long-anticipated rain. The local meteorological bureau confirmed about availability of an adequate number of rockets. Henan in central China is one of the country's granary provinces. It used a drone to bring artificial precipitation to the area. Obviously, drones and rockets are not just weapons of warfare but they have their uses in times of peace also.

Thursday, August 18, 2022

Heavy rainfall after days of hot, dry weather leads to floods across England and Wales

Parts of Scotland received a week's rainfall in just 24 hours. Heavy rainfall has led to flooded roads across England and Wales. These downpours have come after a long stretch of hot, dry weather in the UK. The Met Office on its part issued yellow thunderstorms warnings cautioning against travel disruption, power cuts and lightning. The Environment Agency has issued several flood alerts for some areas of Midlands and England. South-east England faced the longest heatwave in 15 years with temperatures crossing the threshold of 82F on nine consecutive days. The heavy rain resulted in flooding on tracks in the area and speed restrictions had to be imposed in some place for safety. Videos on the social media revealed the difficult conditions people had to face. UK weather: Thunderstorms warning as heavy rain hits and roads flood. An official of the BBC Weather explained that there is heavy rain in August but in this case, it probably “causing problems as a result of how dry it's been in the lead up."

In Scotland, surface water was affecting many routes and the authorities urged motorists to take care. In Somerset, there is more than 50 tonnes of mud on the road following a recent mudslide. That has to be removed to allow movement of traffic. Moreover, a suspected lightning strike had caused signaling problems and power failure. These left many people stranded on trains with corresponding delays. There is a warning for swimmers. They have to be careful of sewage and pollution at beaches along the English coastlines. There is a caution for flash floods in some areas. The Met Office advised those who live in an area prone to flooding to "have a grab bag with things like water and insurance details and anything you might need, ready to go."

Saturday, May 30, 2015

With over 2000 deaths, India experiencing 5th deadliest heatwave in the world

India, with the death toll crossing 2000, is experiencing the 5th deadliest heatwave in the world as per an international database of disasters and reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 31 May 2015. The arrival of monsoons is delayed, it is overdue and the weathermen predict that there would be some more delays.
The deaths due to the current heatwave is maximum from the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telengana, while affecting large parts of the rest of the country.

For the records, the deadliest heatwave on record in India is the one of 1998 one in which 2,541 people died. However, in 2003, there has been recorded the most lethal heatwave in the world which killed more than 71,310 people in Europe. These figures are maintained in the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) and by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) based in Brussels, Belgium.
As per records, six of the top ten heatwaves in terms of deaths have occurred in the 21st century, which has also recorded eight of the ten warmest years ever since records of global temperatures were started being kept.
2014 was tied at the warmest year on record with 1998, and the first quarter of 2015 has already been declared the warmest on record. Obviously, one can assume that global warming and increasing population are the contributory factors to the increasing ferocity of heatwaves.
Incidentally, in the list of top ten deadliest disasters, Indian heatwaves figure four times — 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2015.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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