Asia and the Pacific: Heatwaves in South and South-East Asia (April 2024) as of 17 May 2024
WHAT IS A HEATWAVE?
Communities in Asia and the Pacific are on the frontline of the global Climate Crisis. Asia is warming faster than the global average and the warming trend has nearly doubled since 1961–1990. As temperatures soar and heatwaves become more frequent and intense, the region's susceptibility to climate disasters is becoming increasingly evident. In April , cities and remote communities in Bangladesh, India, Thailand and Viet Nam were confronted with the profound impacts of extreme heat on their health and livelihoods, highlighting the urgent need for scale-up in adaptation, preparedness and mitigations.
There is no universally agreed definition of 'heatwave.' What constitutes a heatwave depends on local and contextual factors, including acclimatisation, demographics, built environments, and cultural norms. But heatwaves can be generally understood as periods of time when unusually hot weather becomes hazardous to human health and well-being.² The three causal factors for heat waves are El Niño, a naturally occurring climate phenomenon; an increase in global temperatures; and human-induced climate change. Heatwaves are a global threat that will form an important part of the humanitarian landscape in the twenty-first century.