Preparing for heatwaves: When even water won’t cool you down
“We are dying from the heat; we experience extreme fatigue because of it,” said Rasmiya Al-Muhammad, who has spent the last decade living in Al-Hamra camp for internally displaced people in Syria’s Idleb governorate.
Summer has arrived in Syria, and the displaced community is enduring yet another deadly heatwave. In the last two months, Syria and other countries across Asia experienced record-breaking heat. And in the last few weeks, scores of people died from the scorching record heat in Saudi Arabia and India.
Human-caused climate change made this heatwave twice as likely, said a study led by World Weather Attribution (WWA), an initiative formed by leading global climate researchers.* The study also notes that the climate crisis will make such heatwaves longer and more frequent and extreme.
Solutions now
More than 1.8 million people in Syria need urgent life-saving support to access safe drinking water in the summer heat. But are aid communities and millions of displaced people in vulnerable regions prepared for life-threatening heatwaves?
Rasmiya has access to water that is trucked into Al-Hamra camp – a vital service funded by the OCHA-managed Syria Cross-Border Humanitarian Fund. But a more sustainable solution is critical, as people are trapped in a protracted crisis while also dealing with long-term forecasts of deadly heatwaves linked to the climate crisis.
Humanitarian organizations are testing solutions, such as thermally appropriate emergency housing, ‘green roofs’, cooling centres and adjustments to school timetables. But all of this requires significant investments in research and learning. So how are people coping with the heat right now?
Rasmiya explained her solution: “We put the sheets in the hot tank water and shake them in the air to cool them. Then we cover ourselves, the children and everyone, and within seconds the sheets dry.”
Scientist Zinta Zommers, speaking on behalf of OCHA’s climate team, said: “Anticipatory action, or acting before a disaster strikes, could help minimize the impacts of heatwaves by helping people or communities take actions needed to prepare, such as improving shelters or access to water.”
Change can happen
OCHA is helping to scale up, mainstream and finance coordinated anticipatory action to extreme weather -related disasters, especially in fragile and conflict-affected States.
“As the knowledge and skills grow and more financing tools become available, OCHA is increasingly investigating the possibility of what coordinated anticipatory action to heatwaves could look like,” said Daniel Pfister, OCHA’s lead on anticipatory action.
Beyond short-term fixes
David Carden, the UN Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, said: “In protracted conflicts like Syria, what's most needed are interventions that go beyond day-to-day survival, such as investing in water networks. It's not only more sustainable but also more cost-effective.”
Climate activist Harjeet Singh agrees, underlining the importance of pre-emptive action: "Escalating deadly heatwaves demand comprehensive strategies beyond short-term fixes. From effective early warning and coordinated emergency response systems that protect communities, to integrating more green and blue spaces in urban planning, each element is essential not only to address the impacts but also to enhance resilience and quality of life.”
Singh, who is also the Global Engagement Director of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, added: "As the climate crisis intensifies, we require robust social protection measures, such as financial support for vulnerable households, and improved public health and drinking water services to ensure that vulnerable populations receive the support they need during extreme [weather] events.”
Word of warning
In the past 12 months, 76 extreme heatwaves were recorded in 90 countries, said a study by WWA, the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, and Climate Central. During that period, 6.3 billion people (about 78 per cent of the global population) experienced at least 31 days of extreme heat.
Zommers sounded a note of caution: “The only long-term solution is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in high-emitting countries and regions. Otherwise, temperatures will continue to rise, and at some point, possibly in the not-too-distant future, we will reach limits of what we can adapt to.”
In the meantime, Rasmiya reported, the heat makes the children in the camp sick: “May Allah help them, poor children. Every few days their temperature rises, we take them to the doctor for injections and medicine. Every summer is like the previous one, with high temperatures. Each summer comes harder than the last.”
* The researchers are from several institutions, including the Grantham Institute – Climate Change and the Environment, Imperial College London, The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, the Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, and the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre.