MANILA: Residents of South and Southeast Asia hurried to parks and air-conditioned malls on Sunday in search of relief as officials throughout the region issued health warnings in anticipation of more intense heat.
Over the past week, the area has experienced a wave of unusually hot weather that has caused temperatures to reach 45 degrees Celsius and prompted thousands of schools to advise kids to stay at home.
Following an extraordinarily hot day in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, all public schools will not be holding in-person courses for two days.
The meteorological agency in Thailand, where at least 30 people have died from heatstroke so far this year, issued a warning of “severe conditions” on Saturday when temperatures in a northern province surpassed 44.1C (111.4F).
Additionally, experts warned that temperatures in Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Vietnam could rise above 40C in the following days as residents dealt with oppressive humidity and scorching heat.
Warnings are issued to nationals of Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, India, and Bangladesh.
I dare not venture outside throughout the day. “I’m concerned that we might suffer from heatstroke,” stated San Yin, a 39-year-old clerk in Yangon, Myanmar.
She mentioned that in order to avoid the heat in their fourth-floor flat, she has been taking her husband and their four-year-old boy to the park during the evening.
She remarked, “This is the only place we can stay to avoid the heat in our neighborhood.”
Last year, global temperatures reached record highs, and Asia was warming at a particularly quick rate, according to a Tuesday report from the United Nations weather and climate organization.
Numerous scientific studies have revealed that heat waves are getting longer, more frequent, and more powerful due to climate change.
No reprieve
This past week, Myanmar’s weather monitor reported temperatures that were 3–4 degrees Celsius higher than the country’s normal for April.
Additionally, the national forecaster indicated that Mandalay, the capital city, would see temperatures as high as 43C on Sunday.
The health ministry encouraged people to keep an eye on their health “during hot weather related to climate change,” while the ministry of water and meteorology in Cambodia issued a warning that temperatures could reach 43C in some areas of the nation in the coming week.
During a five-day national vacation, temperatures in Vietnam were also predicted to stay high, with forecasts as high as 41C in the north.
There, meteorologists predicted that the temperature would drop by the end of April and that it would stay extremely hot until then.
The Indian weather service announced on Saturday that numerous states would see severe heatwave conditions throughout the weekend, with some areas seeing temperatures as high as 44C.
A 37-year-old advertising executive named Ananth Nadiger told AFP from Bengaluru, “I have never experienced this heat before.”
“It drains your energy and is really unpleasant.” Millions of voters lined up in sweltering heat on Friday to cast ballots in the six-week general election taking place in the largest democracy in the world.
