Record-breaking heat waves continue to grip much of South Asia. Thailand is now in its ninth week of sweltering heat, and Vietnam broke its national temperature record for the second time this month when the northern district hit 111.6 degrees Fahrenheit. On May 12, the Philippines recorded a heat index, such as temperature combined with humidity, of 122 F in Legazpi City.
Last week, the World Meteorological Organization warned that human-induced climate change and the looming El Niño, a natural climate event that leads to a drier monsoon season, is likely to “push global temperatures into uncharted territory.”
Why did we write this?
A story that is focused
When it comes to coping with the rising heat, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Across Asia, communities are adapting to extreme temperatures, demonstrating both human resilience and the costs of climate change.
Experts say innovation and national climate plans will be critical to mitigating the long-term costs of extreme heat. But resilience and common sense solutions help communities get back on their feet in the short term. From condensing school days to changing work hours, people across Asia are making sacrifices for security. Ruben Salvador, a peasant leader in the Philippine province of Isabela, says farmers in his community have already begun to replace rice with root vegetables, okra and other drought-resistant crops.
“We need to plan ahead and diversify farms,” he says. “We can’t just rely on the government’s emergency aid. We must continue to produce food not for us, but for the whole country.”
On a small vegetable farm in Lal-lo, in the northern province of Cagayan, Philippines, Eduardo Pamitan begins his day before dawn. Starting in April, the middle-aged farmer tries to get all his work done between 4 and 10 in the morning, before the late morning sun and humidity become “unbearable”.
“I have to wake up so early every day,” she says. “It’s really dangerous to work in constant heat.”
And it’s relentless as record heat waves continue to grip much of South Asia. On May 12, the Philippines recorded a heat index, which combines temperature with humidity, of 122 degrees Fahrenheit in Legazpi City. Thailand is now in its ninth week of intense heat, and Vietnam broke its national temperature record for the second time this month, with the northern Tuong Duong region hitting 111.6F.
Why did we write this?
A story that is focused
When it comes to coping with the rising heat, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Across Asia, communities are adapting to extreme temperatures, demonstrating both human resilience and the costs of climate change.
Just last week, the World Meteorological Organization warned that human-induced climate change and the emerging phenomenon of El Niño, a natural climate event that leads to a drier monsoon season, are likely to “push global temperatures into uncharted territory” and “have far-flung areas”. consequences on health, food security, water management and the environment”.
While innovation and national climate plans will be critical to mitigating the long-term costs of extreme heat, resilience and common-sense solutions help communities bounce back in the short term. From condensing school days to changing work hours, people across Asia are making sacrifices for security. It doesn’t hurt, some experts say, that resilience is part of the region’s DNA.
Asians “have been coping with the heat for a very long time,” said Ronita Bardan, associate professor of sustainable built environments at the University of Cambridge.
“We have cultural mechanisms,” he says, from the clothes people wear to the foods they eat in the summer to the construction of houses.
The key to climate resilience, he adds, will be preserving that cultural knowledge and combining it with modern technology. “It can’t copy and paste what the global north is doing to deal with the heat,” he says.
Carola Franzen/dpa/Reuters
lifestyle changes
Earlier this month, public elementary schools in Quezon City in the Philippines cut classes so students and teachers could escape the dangerous temperatures. Some children attend school from 6 am to 10:30 am, others from 2 pm to 6:30 pm.
The initiative is in line with a Department of Education order that allows public schools to change teaching methods, including blended and modular distance learning, in the event of natural disasters, power outages and other disasters.
“Our priority will always be the welfare of our children,” said Joy Belmonte, Mayor of Quezon City.
There are negative aspects. Rinaliza Alvarez, the mother of a fourth-grader who has been attending morning classes for the past month, worried that “my daughter will only learn half of the classes” with the reduced hours. However, he agrees that “adjustments must be made to ensure the protection of children”.
In the Cambodian city of Siem Reap, which has regularly hit triple digits over the past month, aid worker Joseph Josh Agero decided to extend his work hours instead of cutting them back. Mr. Ajero, who commutes to work by motorbike, says he leaves home early in the morning “when the sun is still touching the horizon” and leaves the office “when the sky turns orange”.
It makes for longer days, he says, but it’s not a bad trade-off.
“The advantage of spending long hours in the office is that I can get a lot done,” he says.
Mercury also rises in India as several states struggle to manage earlier-than-average heat waves. Many of the country’s vast informal workforce have been denied wages when it was too hot to work, and last month 13 people died of heatstroke and many were hospitalized during an outdoor political event in Mumbai.
“India’s poor and vulnerable communities suffer the most from these extreme weather events,” said local geographer and National Geographic researcher Alisha Vasudev, who has written about the relationship between urban heat and shrinking green spaces. “If we want human security, governments and nations must develop effective development strategies.”
Making a plan
Indeed, experts agree that no amount of lifestyle changes can replace sustainable development.
Researchers attribute these and other extreme heat events around the world to man-made global warming, particularly the burning of fossil fuels. Shortening school days and staying home during peak hours are superficial solutions that often have hidden costs.
Lourdes Tibig, a climate science consultant at the Philippines-based Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, said the recent extreme heat underscores “the importance of incorporating climate change and resilience into long-term development planning.”
Martial Trezzini/Keystone/AP
“Providing access to climate-smart infrastructure and services in schools and workplaces can help students and workers focus on their tasks while minimizing inconvenience,” he explains.
But when it comes to creating a framework for responding to unprecedented heat waves, Dr. Cambridge University professor Bardhan says countries need to strike a balance between national planning and local discretion. In India’s case, he says the government needs to “develop heat action plans that allow communities to create their own local responses to combat extreme heat.”
National governments tend to respond “in a hasty fashion that ignores many interconnected and interconnected issues,” he adds.
One sector that is feeling the burn is agriculture. These record temperatures are expected to affect Asia’s food chains long after the heat wave subsides.
It happened before. India was forced to ban wheat exports last year after persistent heat cut production of the staple crop by up to 25%. The India Meteorological Department has warned that the same could happen this year.
And in the Philippines, similar concerns about crop viability have farmers rethinking what they’re planting, especially as they prepare for the onset of El Niño in June.
Alfie Pulumbarit, national coordinator of MASIPAG, a farmer-led sustainable agriculture network, expects farmers to move away from capital-intensive crops such as hybrid rice varieties and turn to indigenous seeds that regenerate each season and do not require expensive fertilizers and pesticides. “The needs of the family and the community must come first,” he says.
Rural leader Ruben Salvador in Isabela province, north of Manila, said farmers in his community are already starting to root vegetables, okra, eggplant and other drought-resistant crops.
“Rice cannot survive without water,” says Mr. Salvador: “That’s why we need to plan ahead and diversify farms. We can’t just rely on the government’s emergency aid. We must continue to produce food not for us, but for the whole country.”