Children crying can’t stand it
For the past few weeks, Nazeer Ahmed has been living in one of the hottest places right now. An intense heatwave has swept through India and now Pakistan.
Mr. Nazeer Ahmed’s home in Turbat, in the Balochistan region of Pakistan, has experienced a hot atmosphere of nearly 50 degrees Celsius for the past several days, which is unprecedented at the same time last year.
A man splashes water on his face to cool off in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Life is like hell
Turbat, a city of about 200,000 residents, is currently without electricity and seriously lacks clean water. Ahmed said: “We are living in hell“.
The situation is similar in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province and the second most populous city in Pakistan. Residents said they “couldn’t stand” staying indoors in this hot weather.
“Our family has 8 people living in 3 rooms. Children often cry and cry because of the heat combined with frequent power outages“, a resident named Junaid told Al Jazeera.
Since April until now, South Asian countries have experienced an unusual heat wave that has caused some areas to reach 50 degrees Celsius. Scientists say this is a consequence of the crisis of transformation. climate makes the weather more and more severe including floods, droughts and heat.
People find ways to cool off the sweltering heat.
The accompanying consequences
Experts warn that this heat wave is affecting Pakistan’s agricultural sector. Amanullah Khan, head of the environment and climate change unit at the United Nations Development Program in Pakistan, told Al Jazeera that while the country’s crops are used to high temperatures, the problem is that The current heat wave is happening earlier than expected.
“The heat coming earlier than usual will result in farmers not being able to produce good quality crops such as wheat.“, analyzed by Amanullah Khan.
Climate change was the main reason why Pakistan had to import wheat last year, although it used to export this agricultural product many years ago. In addition, the yield of mangoes harvested in Pakistan, according to some experts, has decreased by nearly 60%.
Waheed Ahmed, patron of the Association of Exporters, Importers and Traders of Fruit and Vegetables of Pakistan, said that it is expected that other items such as green vegetables, sugarcane and some crops will also decrease in output by the end of this year. .
Hot weather seriously affects agriculture.
In particular, Ahmed emphasized that persistent water shortages will raise concerns about food security in Pakistan. Earlier this month, Pakistan was ranked by the United Nations among the top 23 countries in the world facing a drought emergency over the past two years.
According to the United Nations report, the drought is the result of prolonged heat and low rainfall. This is the main cause of fluctuations in crop yields, causing significant financial losses.
There is no other choice
Mr. Junaid, a seamstress, said that unlike the wealthy, his family lacked the financial resources to cope with this peak heat wave.
“We don’t have money to buy air conditioners. My family relies only on cheap fans and coolers. However, when the power went out for hours, we had nothing to cool off. Now it’s just a matter of living with it. We can’t afford a backup generator“, Mr. Junaid shared.
As for low-income workers in Pakistan who have to work outdoors, this heat wave, no matter how harsh, must find a way to cope.
“We had no choice but to continue working the same long hours no matter how hot it was. Everyone has to feed their family“, Muhammad Zubair, a tea seller who has to work 10-12 hours outdoors, told Al Jazeera.
Pakistani people still have to go to the street to make a living despite the intense heat.
Arshad, a manual laborer who earns between 500 and 1,200 rupees a day (VND 148,000 – VND 357,000) told the media that he hopes to have a policy to support temporary workers like himself.
This man, who has to support his family with 3 children, has not been able to find a permanent job since last April. Now he has to sit on the street for eight to nine hours at a busy intersection hoping someone will hire him.
“The heat was terrible, but we couldn’t change anything. We can only do our best not to go hungry“, the father of three shared.
Source: Aljazeera
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