Page 14 - Pakistan Link - July 2, 2021

P14 – PAKISTAN LINK – JULY 2, 2021 PAKISTAN
n By Ben Farmer Hotter than the Human Body Can Handle: Pakistan
Jacobabad’s crown for unsur-
Jacobabad vivable temperatures may conjure
hen the full midsummer City Broils in World’s Highest Temperatures pictures of Death Valley-like des-
heat hits Jacobabad, the erts, but it is an agricultural hub
Wcity retreats inside as if one spot worldwide,” says Tom fed by irrigation canals. The city
sheltering from attack. Matthews, a lecturer in climate in Sindh’s rice belt is named after
The streets are deserted and science at Lough- b o r o u g h John Jacob, a long forgotten Brit-
residents hunker down as best University. “When you look ish general and colonial adminis-
they can to weather temperatures at some of the things to worry trator.
that can top 52C (126F). about, from water security to ex- Stretches of the town’s ba-
Few have any air condition- treme heat, it’s really the epicen- zaar are dedicated to keeping
ing, and blackouts mean often ter.” cool. Shops sell electric fans and
there is no mains electricity. The Mr Matthews and colleagues low-tech washing machine-sized
hospital fills with heatstroke cases last year analyzed global weather coolers that emit a refreshing
from those whose livelihoods station data and found that Ja- mist.
mean they must venture out. cobabad and Ras al Khaimah, Electric solutions are under-
“When it gets that hot, you north east of Dubai in the Unit- mined by frequent power cuts
can’t even stay on your feet,” ex- ed Arab Emirates, have both however. In the city center, resi-
plains one resident, Zamir Alam. temporarily crossed the deadly dents often lose power for three
“It’s a very, very difficult time threshold. The milestone had or four hours, while in more dis-
when it goes beyond 50C. People been surpassed decades ahead of tant areas the gaps are longer.
do not come out of their houses predictions from climate change are the shores of the Gulf and the Mr Matthews said: “Even The solution for some is a so-
and the streets are deserted,” Ab- models. Indus Valley in Pakistan. They are though it’s theoretically been lar panel, though at £36 each they
dul Baqi, a shopkeeper, adds. The researchers examined truly exceptional.” crossed according to the weather are expensive for many. Cheap
This city of some 200,000 what are called wet bulb tem- Jacobabad crossed the 35C station measurements in that part Chinese batteries are also avail-
in Pakistan’s Sindh province has peratures. These are taken from a wet bulb threshold in July 1987, of the world, whether or not it’s able. “Everyone needs electricity
long been renowned for its fierce thermometer covered in a water- then again in June 2005, June been crossed in the hyper local here. It’s not for television, it’s for
heat, but recent research has con- soaked cloth so they take into ac- 2010 and July 2012. Each time environment where people are keeping cool,” says one electrical
ferred an unwelcome scientific count both heat and humidity. the boundary may have been living, and for long enough to goods trader named Mohammad
distinction. Wet bulb thermometer read- breached for only a few hours, really translate into widespread Iqbal.
Its mixture of heat and hu- ings are significantly lower than but a three-day average tempera- deadly conditions, is another Ice is also popular, with fac-
midity has made it one of only the more familiar dry bulb read- ture has been recorded hovering question.” tories making huge blocks which
two places on earth to have now ings, which do not take humidity around 34C in June 2010, June Jacobabad and Ras al are then hacked into 10p chunks
officially passed, albeit briefly, a into account. Researchers say that 2001 and July 2012. The dry bulb Khaimah may share fierce tem- at roadside stalls. When all else
threshold hotter than the human at a wet bulb reading of 35C, the temperature is often over 50C in peratures, but they are otherwise fails, there are hand fans and peo-
body can withstand. body can no longer cool itself by the summer. very different and illustrate the ple also simply dunk buckets of
With this region of Pakistan sweating and such a temperature Patchy death records mean different challenges that places water over their heads.
along the Indus Valley considered can be fatal in a few hours, even it is not clear whether the cross- will face under climate change. For those who can afford it,
one of the places most vulnerable to the fittest people. ing of the threshold resulted in a In the wealthy UAE, where there is the chance to spend the
to climate change in the world, “It approximates how warm wave of fatalities. The effects of electricity and air conditioning summer in Quetta or Karachi,
there are fears that Jacobabad’s it feels to humans because we entering the danger zone are like- are plentiful, the threshold may which are still fiercely hot, but of-
temperatures may increase fur- cool via sweating,” Mr Matthews ly to be blurred, for example with have little effect on residents. fer some relief. Most stay.
ther, or other cities may join the says. “We rely on that exclusively. cooler interiors of buildings tem- In Jacobabad, where many sub- “The people are used to it,
club. When you use that measure, the porarily sheltering residents from sist on wages of only a couple of they have developed a resistance,”
“The Indus Valley is argu- wet bulb temperature, the two the worst. It also depends on how pounds a day, residents must find shrugs one administration offi-
ably close to being the number regions that stand out on earth long the threshold is crossed. other ways to adapt. TEMPERATURE, P28

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