At large events around the world, scenes of extreme heat stress are becoming commonplace. Elderly men, shirts unbuttoned, eyes closed, lie. Rescue tents are filled with unconscious people. Rows of worshippers — whether for religion, music, elections or sporting events — sweat under the blazing sun with little shade.
The consequences are dire. During this year’s Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, at least1,300 people died in temperatures exceeding 37 degrees Celsius. Crowd control and climate change-induced heat wavesThe tragic loss of life is just the latest example of the trend that is combining into a dangerous force.
In the recent elections in Indiadozens of poll workers died on duty. Last summer, a group of Boy Scouts who went to South Korea to participate in the 50th anniversary celebrations died due to the high temperature.Get ill,AustraliaThe same thing happened at music festivals in , Europe and North America.
Death toll from extreme heatMore than any other extreme weather event, there is a dangerous cultural lag. Many organizers and participants of large events are still not paying enough attention to the changing climate curve and are unaware of the risks a warming planet poses to summer crowds.
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“As warm seasons get longer and heat waves come earlier, we have to adjust,” said Benjamin Zajczyk, a climate scientist at Johns Hopkins University who studies health-damaging climate events, adding that in addition to individual behavior, infrastructure, emergency management and social schedules must also “really recognize this new reality.”
There are many low-tech ways to prevent illness and death, including shade, water stations, painting sidewalks white to reflect heat, and providing emergency medical services for severe cases of heat stroke.Created public spaces that combine the outdoors with the indoorsair conditioning has been installed in places such as bus stops where people may need to spend time waiting.
The most difficult solution may also be the simplest: Educate the general public about the dangers of heat, including those who are accustomed to living in hot areas. Often, they don’t know the early signs of heat stress or how dangerous high temperatures can be for people who already have medical conditions, such as kidney disease or high blood pressure. Even medicines for allergies or asthma, such asAnticholinergic drugswhich will also accelerate the occurrence of problems due to restricted sweating.
“Heat is a very, very complex, very sneaky killer,” said Tariq Benmaniya, an environmental epidemiologist and associate professor at the University of California, San Diego. “It’s silent.”
Religious pilgrimages are perhaps the most thorny of all.the PhilippinesChristians,IndiaHindus in India, Muslims in Saudi Arabia and many other faiths have died from heat stroke during religious ceremonies.
But the pilgrimage to Mecca is perhaps the most dangerous.
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The entire Arabian Peninsula is hot and rising rapidly, with nighttime temperatures rising as well, stealing the time the human body normally has to cool down. The hajj, which lasts five or six days, exacerbates the problem of heat exposure in the holy city of Mecca.
And the pilgrimage calendar is based on lunar cycles, so a scheduled trip could be scheduled, as it was this year, when the weather is at its hottest. And because pilgrims tend to be older, they are more susceptible to the effects of the heat.
Ben Manya shuddered at the news of the deaths among the pilgrims this year.
“I feel like it could have happened to my grandmother,” he said by phone Monday.
He had funded her trip to Mecca in 2019. She was 75, but thankfully, he said, she took part in a smaller pilgrimage in the cooler month of April. Given this year’s death toll, he suggested that heat experts take advantage of what’s happening and work quickly with religious authorities to develop adaptation strategies.
The Saudi Ministry of Health launched an education campaign urging people to drink plenty of water and use umbrellas. Officials set up makeshift hospitals and water stations. They deployed thousands of medical workers.
That is not enough for the millions of pilgrims, many of whom ignore state quotas designed to limit crowd sizes, and Saudi Arabia has faced criticism over its handling of deaths during the pilgrimage.
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India’s elections this year showed that even in places where people thought they were accustomed to the heat, there needs to be more awareness of the dangers of extreme heat.
According to disaster relief officials in Bihar, at least 14 people had died in the state by the end of May, including at least 10 election workers.In June this year, Odisha hadNearly 100 people died in 72 hourssuspected to be related to the high temperature weather.
Indian health officials were forced to respond. In the heat stroke ward of a Delhi hospital, patients were immediately immersed in tubs filled with ice to lower their body temperatures. In a ward equipped with an ice machine, ice boxes and ventilators, critically ill patients were immediately placed on ice and doused with cold water.
But in many areas, the heatwave and voting peaked at almost the same time – including in Bihar state’s Aurangabad district, home to about 3 million people, where temperatures approached 48 degrees Celsius in late May.
Ravi Bhushan Srivastava, chief medical officer at a government hospital, was on his way to review the daily post-mortem reports on a particularly bad day, with 60 patients admitted with heat stroke.
“At least 35 to 40 people are in a bad condition,” he said. “They are either unconscious or in an altered state of consciousness, with high body temperatures and difficulty breathing.”
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He added: “In my entire career, I have never seen so many patients with such severe symptoms of heat stroke.”
Election rallies are particularly prone to problems because of the large crowds. But there are many possible solutions. Attendees should pay attention to local real-time temperatures and color-code risk levels, said Aditya Varyathan Pillai, an adaptation expert at the Partnership for a Sustainable Future, a Delhi-based research institute. Water stations, shade and cooling centers could be set up. In particular, public agencies should issue early warnings about high temperatures.
“We can now make fairly accurate heat wave forecasts five days in advance, so this kind of early warning is possible,” Pillay said.
Sporting events are already adapting to the dangers of extreme heat. During the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the combination of heat, humidity and sun raised the temperature of the playing field toReached 32 degrees Celsiusso players are provided with breaks to drink water during the game. Officials postponed the 2022 Qatar World Cup from summer to when the weather is cooler.November and December.
The Paris Olympics appear to be striking a balance, with events such as the marathon starting earlier in the day and water stations provided for spectators.
“Major events like the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup have an obligation to care for all involved,” said Madeline Orr, a professor at the University of Toronto and author of “Warming Up: How Climate Change Is Changing Sport.”
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“We’re talking about hydration and cooling pauses,” she added, “to give athletes and officials a chance to use cooling towels and some shade or misting fans, and to have medical staff on hand if anyone needs additional care.”
For now, that may be enough. Many experts say more radical changes may be needed. The Summer Olympics may have to become the Fall Olympics. Likewise, India’s elections and international tennis tournaments could be pushed to cooler months. School holidays could be rescheduled based on the weather. Summer jobs, like painting houses, could become spring jobs.
Tasmanian climate scientist David Bowman wrote during Australia’s 2020 bushfiresan articlewho has called for changes to Australia’s school summer holidays, has attracted widespread attention online. He said people were already adapting in small ways. Parasols were becoming a fashion accessory, shorts were becoming more accepted at work and road workers were working more hours in the evenings.
Climate change may force even greater changes to large events.
“All of these disasters act like price signals for cultural climate change,” he said. “Sure, we can stubbornly persist no matter what the climate does — but in the end, climate wins.”