New research reveals that extreme heat will strike the world in unexpected ways, with a “blacklist” that includes countries whose populations typically fear only the cold.
The New York Times reports that a new study led by Dr. Dann Mitchell, a climate scientist from the University of Bristol in the UK, warns that modern societies are primarily equipped to handle only the most severe disasters they have experienced in recent memory.
This is particularly dangerous given that the climate data examined by the research team indicates many places could experience intense and completely unexpected heat disasters.
Residents of Bangkok, Thailand endure extreme heat, reaching 45.4 degrees Celsius on April 21 – (Photo: REUTERS).
The researchers analyzed global temperatures from 1959 to 2021 and found that regions covering 31% of the Earth’s surface have experienced abnormal heat levels that statistically should not have occurred, and were completely unexpected.
An unexpected disaster in the past may have helped prepare societies to some extent for future heat waves; however, many areas, simply by chance, have not yet experienced such events and thus remain unprepared.
The results of the study, recently published in the journal Nature Communications, provide a list of locations that will experience extreme heat in the future in a state of “unpreparedness.”
This list includes several wealthy countries and regions such as Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the area surrounding Beijing, China; as well as developing nations like Afghanistan, Guatemala, Honduras, and Papua New Guinea—places that are likely to lack the resources to ensure the safety of their populations when disasters strike.
Regions particularly at high risk also include the Russian Far East, northwest Argentina, and parts of northeastern Australia.
The study cites an example of an “unprepared” heat disaster: the Pacific Northwest heatwave, which resulted in hundreds of deaths in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington, wildfires that destroyed many villages such as Lytton, British Columbia (Canada), and devastated crops over a wide area.
The research confirms that heatwaves beyond statistical norms have occurred globally over the past few decades and could happen again, anywhere, as humanity continues to face extreme weather phenomena due to climate change.
