By Katy Daigle; Editing by Kevin Liffey
June 24 (Reuters)
We all get excited when summer is close by or when it arrives, from the cold to the heat, but in recent decades, summer has come with some disadvantages. Due to various human activities that have caused pollution and damaged the ozone layer, the climate has changed, and it has increased heat, also termed global warming. Therefore, while we can wear the lighter clothes and not worry about a pile of laundry with jackets and jerseys, there is something more to worry about, and that is extreme heat, which exposes cracks in public health and safety systems.
Heat is also related to causing health problems if it is extreme
As tens of thousands of people braced for more extreme heat, authorities and public health experts in the United States issued heat warnings to help keep people safe. Cities of the U.S. Midwest and East Coast were seeing temperatures in the 90s Fahrenheit (32-38 degrees Celsius), as was much of southern Europe. This has caused a stir of worry across the nation.
Heat can affect health in various ways. With heat exhaustion, a person can feel dizzy, shaky, or thirsty, or develop a headache. It is not usually serious unless the person is unable to cool down within 30 minutes. When people are unable to cool down, they can develop heatstroke – a medical emergency defined as the body’s core temperature, usually close to 36.8 degrees Celsius (98.2 F), going above 40.6 degrees Celsius (105 Fahrenheit).
Different classes of workers are affected by heat in ways we never thought of
Another thing that has been identified by researchers and health practitioners is that heat is very dangerous, especially to individuals who have job types that expose them to the sun daily or more frequently. This relates to people who work outside or in the field, be it in agricultural settings, construction, and so forth, because in society, they are perceived as low class and do not have the privilege of the “educated” class.
Additionally, extreme heat can be harmful to anyone, but some populations are more vulnerable than others. Experts are most concerned about older people, young babies, and people who are socially isolated. They also worry about outdoor labourers and people struggling economically. People with pre-existing health conditions, such as lung disease, heart problems, or diabetes, should also be extra cautious.
Heat can lead to fatalities, and men are more at risk than women
Experts say more deaths occur earlier in the summer when people’s bodies have not had a chance to acclimatise. Statistics on heat-related deaths are often considered to underestimate the impact of extreme heat because many countries do not record heat as a specific cause of death. Equitable Growth stated that,
“The effect of heat on injuries is significantly larger for men relative to women and for younger workers relative to older ones. Men appear to be at least three times more affected by heat-related workplace safety risks, compared to women, and workers in their 20s and 30s are approximately two times more affected than those in their 50s and 60s.”
The big question remains: what are authorities doing or companies doing to ensure that their employees are not exposed to the heat so much to reduce sickness, diseases, and deaths? There is no answer to that fully; however, it looks like there has been a conversation about it, and perhaps due to the advancement of technology, a solution is underway. In today’s world, heat is a big deal, and we can see how it has affected nature and the livelihoods of many people across the world. However, the solution is to have preventative measures to keep everyone safe.
GCN.com/Reuters.
