Residents of South and Southeast Asia have been dealing with extreme heat for days. For example, Myanmar set a record in April with more than 48 degrees and the perceived temperature in Thailand rises to 52 degrees. These temperatures can be ‘life-threatening’, explains Leander de Wit of Buienradar. “This is due to the high humidity in the region.”
Closed schools in the Philippines, health warnings in several Asian countries and record power consumption in Thailand: an extreme heat wave is gripping part of Asia. And so record after record is being achieved in the region. For example, it was never before 44 degrees in April in Vietnam and 43.4 degrees in China in the same month.
Thailand, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Laos also experience high temperatures. In the Philippines, it was even warmer than ever in the capital Manila, at 38.8 degrees. As a result, Philippine schools, which often do not have air conditioning, are closed for two days.
In Thailand, where temperatures rose to more than 44 degrees last week, authorities warned of ‘very dangerous’ conditions. This year, thirty people have already died in the country due to the heat, while last year there were 37 for the entire year.
Work less
Bangkok therefore asks people who work outside to work fewer hours. The city council also shared a video explaining how to provide first aid to people who faint due to the heat.
According to Leander de Wit, these precautions are not unjustified. The high temperatures in these countries can be very dangerous because the region also experiences high humidity. “Your body cools through sweat, which evaporates from your skin.” But that evaporation doesn’t happen when the air around it is so humid. “It is impossible to cool down and the perceived temperature is through the roof. That is life-threatening.”
No cooling at night
Not only humidity, but also high minimum temperatures pose a danger. And those minimum temperatures are ‘bizarrely high’, says De Wit. “In Bangladesh and Thailand it sometimes did not get colder than 30 degrees at night. Then your body does not have the opportunity to cool down normally at any time.”
And so people look for coolness in parks. For 39-year-old cashier San Yin from Myanmar, this is the only way to escape the nighttime heat of her apartment, she tells the Asian news platform Channel News Asia. “Only there can my 4-year-old son, my husband and I escape the heat.” During the day they are indoors. “We don’t dare go out because we are afraid of getting sunstroke.”
Too hot for the ballot box
The heat also has an impact on daily life in India, which these weeks is dominated by the elections. It therefore appears that the heat wave also influenced the first round of elections, which started on April 19. Turnout was 4 percentage points lower than during the previous elections in 2019.
Southeast Asia has recently been suffering from high temperatures, says De Wit, partly due to climate change. Last year, the area was also plagued by a historic heat wave for weeks.
Heat is not the only problem in the region. According to a recently published UN report, Asia is the hardest hit worldwide by climate change and extreme weather. In addition to heat waves, this also includes floods, storms and melting glaciers. “Those glaciers are of great importance for the water supply,” De Wit explains. “If the glaciers have melted, that is also a big problem, especially when it is so hot.”
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