Thailand, Bangladesh and Philippines | Several Asian countries hit by extreme heat

(Bangkok) Thailand is experiencing a new period of extreme heat, to such a level that millions of residents of the capital Bangkok are asked by the authorities to stay at home on Wednesday.

“Attention, the heat index for today (Wednesday) has reached the level considered extremely dangerous. Please refrain from spending time outdoors,” warned the Bangkok Municipality (BMA) on Facebook.

The maximum level of health risk is reached in Bangkok when the felt temperature, calculated according to an index taking into account wind or humidity in addition to temperature, exceeds 52°C.

The National Meteorological Institute (TMD) forecasts heat reaching 39°C on Wednesday in the capital.

April is considered the hottest month in Thailand, but this year the heatwave is exacerbated by the El Niño weather phenomenon, which causes the mercury to surge close to records.

On Tuesday, the northern province of Lampang recorded a heat peak of 44.2°C, a few tenths of the record set last year in Tak (44.6), according to TMD.

In Bangkok, a metropolis of ten million inhabitants and a mecca for global tourism, temperatures could rise further in the coming days, local authorities said.

Workers forced to stay outside, such as scooter delivery men or food sellers, try to stay in the shade and drink to survive these conditions, made worse by air pollution.

“This year the weather is the most extreme. Sometimes I feel dizzy, but not so much that I pass out,” says Buppha Nakhin, who sells grilled meatballs on a sidewalk in central Bangkok.

“I feel like I’m going to pass out when I work outside these days, but I don’t have a choice (to do anything else), right? », adds Boonsri Waenkaew, motorcycle taxi.

The Thai government recommends staying hydrated, wearing sunscreen, and exercising indoors to avoid heatstroke.

The year 2023 was the hottest on record worldwide. In Asia, the impact of heat waves is becoming more and more severe, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday.

Hit by extreme heatwave, Bangladesh prays for rain

Thousands of Muslim worshipers prayed for rain on Wednesday in mosques and countryside across Bangladesh where an extreme heatwave is raging that has prompted authorities to close schools.

Temperatures reached more than 42°C last week in this country. Average maximum temperatures in the capital Dhaka this week were 4 to 5 degrees Celsius higher than the 30-year average over the same period, according to the National Weather Service.

“April is usually the hottest month in Bangladesh. But this April was one of the hottest since independence” in 1971, Tariful Newaz Kabir, a meteorologist, told AFP.

“We expect high temperatures to persist until the end of this month,” he added.

Authorities last week ordered all schools to cancel classes until the end of the month.

“The severity of this heatwave highlights the urgent need for action to protect children from the worsening impacts of climate change,” said UNICEF, the United Nations children’s agency, in a statement. .

Muslim faithful gathered in city mosques and in the countryside to pray for the arrival of rain.

“Praying for rain is a tradition of our prophet,” Muhammad Abu Yusuf, an imam, told AFP after his morning prayer in front of a thousand worshipers in central Dhaka.

“Life has become unbearable because of the lack of rain,” he stressed. “The poor suffer enormously.”

Hospitals in the southern coastal district of Patuakhali have reported local outbreaks of diarrhea due to rising temperatures and increased salinity in local water sources, state medical officer Bhupen Chandra Mondal told AFP.

“The number of diarrhea patients is very high this year,” he continued. “This is all linked to climate change.”

Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, issued a statement calling on its members to join prayer services planned for Wednesday and Thursday.

Extreme heat grips the Philippines

The Philippines is facing extreme heat on Wednesday, to the point that authorities have advised the population not to venture outside and thousands of schools have suspended face-to-face classes.

“It’s so hot that we can’t breathe,” says Erlin Tumaron, 60, who works in a seaside resort in the northern province of Cavite, where the temperature reached 47 degrees Celsius on Tuesday.

“It is surprising to see that our swimming pools are still empty. You would expect people to come and swim, but it seems they are reluctant to leave their homes because of the heat. »

March, April and May are usually the hottest and driest months of the year in the Philippine archipelago, but weather conditions have worsened this year due to the El Niño weather phenomenon, according to climatologist Ana Solis from the national meteorological agency.

Felt temperatures – calculated according to an index taking into account, in addition to temperature, different meteorological factors, such as wind or humidity – were expected to reach 42°C or more on Wednesday in at least 30 cities and municipalities, according to meteorologists.

The Education Ministry, which oversees 47,600 schools, said nearly 6,700 of them had suspended in-person classes on Wednesday.

In the capital, Manila, more than 400 schools have favored distance learning. The temperature felt there was 45°C on Tuesday and was expected to reach 44°C on Wednesday.

“We need to limit the time we spend outside, drink plenty of water and take umbrellas and hats when we go out,” explains M.^me Solis to AFP.

The heat could intensify in the coming days, says the specialist, according to which this probability is 50%.

About half of the Philippine provinces are officially in a state of drought.

The year 2023 was the hottest on record worldwide. In Asia, the impact of heat waves is becoming more and more severe, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in a press release on Tuesday.

The Philippines ranks among the countries most vulnerable to the consequences of climate change.