UN unveils guidelines for heat wave health risks
The UN has unveiled guidelines addressing health risks caused by heat waves as warm weather alerts spread across Europe following the recent high temperatures that killed hundreds of people in Pakistan and India.
“Heat waves and Health: Guidance on Warning-System Development” was jointly released by the UN World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the United Nations News Center reported on Wednesday.
The intensity and frequency of heat waves around the world are on the rise, mostly because of the speeding up of climate change, the report noted.
Apart from the casualties in India and Pakistan, heat waves killed tens of thousands of people in Europe in the summer of 2003.
“Heat waves are a dangerous natural hazard, and one that requires increased attention,” said Maxx Dilley, the director of WMO Climate Prediction and Adaptation Branch, and Maria Neira, the director of WHO Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health .
“They lack the spectacular and sudden violence of other hazards, such as tropical cyclones or flash floods, but the consequences can be severe,” they added.
According to the report, the guidelines will “provide effective climate services and save lives in vulnerable communities around the world.”
“Growing concerns over climate change have brought to the fore three important aspects: adaptation, disaster-risk reduction and the need for climate information and services to support these,” Dilley and Neira concluded.
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