Heat wave expected to get worse

THE HEAT wave being experienced in St Vincent and the Grenadines and the rest of the region is expected to get worse over the next few months, and in successive years, is likely to become more intense.

Climate scientists say heatwaves, which are growing in frequency and intensity around the world, are due to climate change.

They have been warning for some time that the rise in global average temperature, as greenhouse gas levels mount in the atmosphere, is causing an increase in the risks of hot weather.

Over the past week, maximum temperatures in St Vincent and the Grenadines averaged 31oC (88oF), while minimum temperatures averaged 28oC (82oF), making for scorching days and hot, uncomfortable nights.

As if what we are experiencing is not bad enough, scientists have predicted that even hotter months are ahead of us. The Caribbean Climate Outlook Forum (CariCOF) in its heat outlook for April to September 2023, states that excessive heat can be expected, especially in August and September.

The present heat wave has been alarming enough that a local physician in his weekly column in last Friday’s edition of SEARCHLIGHT reminded the reading public that a spectrum of heat-related illnesses is associated with the blistering heat and stifling humidity. He pointed out that heat has killed more locals than natural disasters in Australia, Arizona, Kuwait, Iran, Ecuador, and other places; and that while certain groups are more vulnerable to extreme heat, no one is immune.

We therefore need to take precautions and pay this heat wave the respect it deserves.We know what we ought to do – drink lots of fluids, particularly water, and stay indoors as much as possible, especially during the hotter times of the day.

Climate scientists have warned that extreme heat will become more intense and more frequent. They say that for every added increment of global warming, the changes in extremes will continue to get larger, leading to more unprecedented heat waves, droughts and heavy rains.

And relief is not likely to come for decades. As 2050 is the earliest target date currently being discussed for global emissions to be cut to net zero, that means extreme weather, including heatwaves, will become ever more severe for at least the next 30 year