Humanity is suffering from the HEAT

Garfield Ekon

Staff Writer

United Nations (UN) Secretary General, His Excellency Antonio Guterres says humanity is suffering from an “extreme heat epidemic,” and action is needed to limit the impacts of heat waves, which have been intensified by Climate Change.

The UN Chief argued that heat is having an “extreme impact on people and planet,” and focus action should be on caring for the most vulnerable, stepping up protections for workers, and phasing out fossil fuels.

“Billions of people are facing an extreme heat epidemic, wilting under increasingly deadly heat waves, with temperatures topping 50 degrees Celsius around the world,” he said.

July 21, 22 and 23 were the three hottest days ever recorded worldwide, with July 22 holding the absolute record of 17.16°C. Mr. Guterres repeated his call for humanity to fight its “addiction” to fossil fuels.

“Today, our focus is on the impact of extreme heat, but let us not forget that there are many other devastating symptoms of the Climate crisis, ever-more fierce hurricanes. Floods, droughts, wildfires, rising sea levels, and the list goers on,” he pointed out.

To tackle the symptoms, the global community needs to fight the disease, he said, adding that the “madness of incinerating our only home. The disease is the addiction to fossil fuels. The disease is Climate inaction,” he stressed, calling in particular on G20 countries to take action.

While 2023 was the hottest year on record, and 2024 could set a record, temperatures well above 40°C are increasingly common. In the space of a year, the 50°C threshold has even been exceeded in at least 10 places, from Death Valley in the United States (53.9°C on July 7) to Agadir in Morocco and in China and India.

The “silent killer” is responsible for around 489,000 deaths per year, between 2000 and 2019, compared with 16,000 deaths per year from cyclones, according to the UN’s “Calto Action” document, published last week.