You all are aware of the concept of what a heatwave is. For those who don't know, these are unusual hot waves of air that lasts for more than a week in any specific place with an increase in 5 degree of temperature than the average maximum temperature of that region.. Generally they occour in the summer season, from march to july, may being the highest recorded temperature. These are basically caused by abnormalities in the jet streams movement( global air circulation as a whole).
image source
But how these heatwaves occur?
For this answer you have to know about the el-nino and la nina effect
India has seen a rise of more that 6 degree calcius in 2022. orange alerts were decleared in the state of Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, UP and some part of Maharasthra for several times. We might be thinking a small rise in temperature results in nothing. The answer for this question lies in my previous post.
Lets do some fact checks. According to an article published by the World Health Organization , about 166,000 people lost their life due to the rise in temperature from 1998-2007. click here for more details
In 2015, more than 3000 people were killed due to heatwave in India.
Heat waves killed about 6,167 people in India over eight years to 2018.
In 2022 alone heatwave killed more than 90 people in INDIA AND PAKISTAN (SOURCE).
This data published by National Crime Record Bureau focuses on the number of death that occured due to various natural calamities. you can see above the graph that there are total of 13,548 death due to heat stroke from 2000 to 2014. These deaths occur as the body couldn't tolarate the heat which results in no proper functioning of the body. On the right side of the above picture shows the area of heat waves and deaths in the area.
Major factor that can accelerate the heat wave is the climate change. we purchase coolers ,ACs during summer but these ACs are responsible for the climate change. These machines need electricity and major potion of electricity is still obtained by burning of fossil fuel which is a major reason behind global warming.
Fire in dumping sites are common due to heat waves. Methane is released by the dumping sites and sun's energy is used to start the fire.
At the end, it all comes and stucks in climate change. Climate change is not just knocking at the door but breaking the door and entering in.
what can we do to overcome this disaster. You can share your thoughts in the comment secion below. Your comment is highly appriciated.
Thank you for your time looking at the post. See you soon