Early warnings on extreme weather events such as heat waves have to come with a longer lead time, an analyst said on Friday (Nov 3), a day after the United Nations released a report sounding the alarm that climate change threatens to reverse decades of progress towards better health.
Countries have generally been reactive, instead of proactive, when it comes to dealing with climate-driven weather events, said Professor Amir Sapkota from the School of Public Health at the University of Maryland.
“Rather than a few days, we need to know weeks, even months ahead of time, so that we can prepare … and respond to them,” the chair of epidemiology and biostatistics told CNA’s Asia First.
A dedicated section of the annual State of Climate Services report by UN agency World Meteorological Organization detailed the issues surrounding extreme heat, which causes the greatest mortality of all extreme weather.
According to the report, an estimated 489,000 people died due to heat per year from 2000 to 2019, with 45 per cent of these deaths in Asia. However the impact of heat is underestimated as mortality related to it could be 30 times higher than what is currently recorded.
The study also painted a bleak picture for the future.
The number of medium- or large-scale disaster events is projected to reach 560 a year – or 1.5 each day – by 2030.
“We don’t have a choice, we must adapt to this increasing frequency of extreme weather events. So that means we need to get much, much better in terms of anticipating these threats ahead of time and preparing for them,” said Prof Sapkota.
“That is the critical thing that’s missing, and we need a lot of work moving ahead in that direction.”
Countries with limited early warning coverage have disaster mortality that is eight times higher than countries with substantial to comprehensive coverage, warned the report.
Source: CNA
