Southeast Asia is facing a brutal heatwave as record temperatures have led to school closures and triggered urgent health warnings across the region.
Millions of students in the Philippines were forced to stay home on Monday after authorities canceled in-person classes for two days. The Department of Education has ordered students at more than 47,000 public schools to switch to online classes at home.
The main advice for people across the country was to avoid outdoor activities and drink lots of water, but the young and old were told to be especially careful.
The sweltering weather also raised fears of water shortages, power cuts and damage to crops.
Large crowds sought relief in air-conditioned shopping malls in Metro Manila, the congested capital of more than 14 million people, where the temperature rose to 38.8 degrees Celsius (101.84 degrees Fahrenheit) on Saturday, surpassing the record set decades ago, according to meteorological authorities. .
The country’s meteorological agency said the heat index – the actual temperature felt by the body that includes relative humidity – is expected to remain at a record 45°C (113°F), in the range it classifies as “dangerous”, as conditions can trigger prolonged heat stroke. exhibition.
This year, Cambodia has faced the highest temperatures in 170 years, Chan Yutha, spokesman for the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, told the Associated Press news agency. The ministry predicted that temperatures in most of the country could reach up to 43ºC (109ºF) this week.
The Myanmar Meteorological Department said seven counties in the central divisions of Magway, Mandalay, Sagaing and Bago experienced unprecedented high temperatures.
In northern Thailand, temperatures exceeded 44ºC (111ºF) in some areas, while the capital, Bangkok, and metropolitan areas recorded temperatures above 40ºC (104ºF). The Meteorological Department’s forecast says this year’s summer, which generally runs from late February to late May, is expected to be 1-2C (1.8-3.6F) hotter than last year, and rainfall will be lower than average.
Thailand’s Disease Control Department said last week that at least 30 people had died from heatstroke this year, compared with 37 in all of last year.
Vietnam’s national meteorological agency warned of the risks of forest fires, dehydration and thermal shock, while the state electricity company urged consumers to avoid overloading their air conditioners, warning that electricity consumption had reached record levels in recent days. .
Scientists said the number of heat-related deaths around the world has risen significantly in recent years, along with temperatures. However, the trend in Asia so far is unclear, in part because of the question of how to classify deaths that appear to be heat-related.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
