Heat wave killings in Pakistan and possible strategies to prevent the future heat wave fatalities

Maria Saleem¹, Syed Zawar Shah²* and Shafiq Azam²

Received: March 13, 2018;   Published: March 19, 2018

DOI: 10.32474/RRHOAJ.2018.01.000113

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Abstract

There is near unanimous scientific consensus that greenhouse gas emissions generated by human activity will change Earth’s climate. The recent (globally averaged) warming by 0.5ºC is partly attributable to such anthropogenic emissions. Climate change will affect human health in many ways-most adversely. Heat waves are the most fatal type of weather situations and they happen irregularly in different countries. Heat waves are well-known in other countries but the people of Pakistan became familiar with it in 2010 when the extremely high temperature was recorded at Mohenjo-Daro, which was the hottest temperature ever recorded in Asia. After this incident heat waves again knocked the boundary of Pakistan in 2015 and at this time it caught attention because it resulted in a lot of deaths due to hyperthermia. Heat waves form when high pressure aloft become stronger and remains over a region for several days up to several weeks. Areas of high population having dense accommodation and poor people are at risk to the adverse effects of heat waves. Government should take steps to prevent deaths by investing in the electrical infrastructure. Besides this, public awareness is also important to minimize the loss.

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