Heatwaves are killing people?

熱浪在殺人

Economist?Print edition | Leaders, Jul 27th 2019

Adapting to the effects of climate change is helping but is not enough

適應(yīng)氣候變化有益生存著蟹，但我們需要做更多

In recent days heatwaves have turned swathes of America and Europe into furnaces. Despite the accompanying blast of headlines, the implications of such extreme heat are often overlooked or underplayed. Spectacular images of hurricanes or floods grab attention more readily, yet heatwaves can cause more deaths. Heat is one of climate change’s deadliest manifestations. Sometimes its impact is unmistakable—a heatwave in Europe in 2003 is estimated to have claimed 70,000 lives. More often, though, heatwaves are treated like the two in the Netherlands in 2018. In just over three weeks, around 300 more people died than would normally be expected at that time of year. This was dismissed as a “minor rise” by officials. But had those people died in a flood, it would have been front-page news.

最近幾天滨溉，熱浪已經(jīng)把美國和歐洲的大片地區(qū)變成了熔爐。盡管伴隨著的相關(guān)新聞頭條的狂轟亂炸，這種極端高溫的影響往往被忽視或低估。颶風(fēng)或洪水的驚人景象更容易引起人們的注意褐健，然而熱浪侵襲可能導(dǎo)致更多的死亡贪染。熱是氣候變化最致命的表現(xiàn)之一。有時它的影響是顯而易見的——據(jù)估計2003年歐洲的高熱天氣奪去了7萬人的生命蛉迹。不過，更多時候放妈，人們認(rèn)為高熱天氣與2018年兩度襲擊荷蘭的熱浪相似北救。在短短的三個多星期內(nèi)，死亡人數(shù)超過當(dāng)年預(yù)期300人芜抒。但這被官員們視為“輕微的上升”珍策。不過，如果這些人在洪水中喪生宅倒，毫無疑問會成為新聞頭條攘宙。

The havoc caused by extreme heat does not get the attention it merits for several reasons. The deaths tend to be more widely dispersed and do not involve the devastation of property as do the ravages of wind and water. Moreover, deaths are not usually directly attributable to heatstroke. Soaring temperatures just turn pre-existing conditions such as heart problems or lung disease lethal.

由于種種原因，極熱帶來的危害并沒有引起人們的注意拐迁。一方面蹭劈，死者的分布更為分散，而且不像颶風(fēng)和洪水一樣毀壞財產(chǎn)线召。另一方面铺韧，中暑通常不是致死的直接原因，高溫只是加劇了本身疾病的惡化程度灶搜，如心臟病或肺病祟蚀，進而致命的。

Heatwaves will inevitably attract more attention as they become more frequent. As greenhouse gases continue to accumulate in the atmosphere, not only will temperatures rise overall but extremes of heat will occur more frequently (see article). Britain’s Met Office calculates that by the 2040s European summers as hot as that of 2003 could be commonplace, regardless of how fast emissions are reduced. Urbanisation intensifies the risk to health: cities are hotter places than the surrounding countryside, and more people are moving into them.

熱浪越來越頻繁割卖，不可避免地會引起更多的關(guān)注前酿。隨著溫室氣體繼續(xù)在大氣中積累，溫度不僅會整體上升鹏溯，而且極端的熱量會更頻繁地出現(xiàn)（見文章）罢维。英國氣象局（Met Office）計算，不管減排速度有多快丙挽，截至本世紀(jì)中葉肺孵，與2003年一樣炎熱的夏季在歐洲可能是司空見慣的。此外颜阐，城市化加劇了對健康的風(fēng)險：城市往往比周圍的農(nóng)村更熱平窘，而且人口密度在增大。

The good news is that most fatalities are avoidable, if three sets of measures are put in place. First, people must be made aware that extreme heat can kill and warning systems established. Heatwaves can be predicted with reasonable accuracy, which means warnings can be given in advance advising people to stay indoors, seek cool areas and drink plenty of water. Smart use of social media can help. In 2017 a campaign on Facebook warning of the dangers of a heatwave in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital, reached 3.9m people, nearly half the city’s population.

好消息是凳怨，如果可以采取以下三套措施瑰艘，大多數(shù)死亡是可以避免的是鬼。首先，必須讓人們意識到紫新，高溫會導(dǎo)致死亡均蜜，并建立起預(yù)警系統(tǒng)。預(yù)警系統(tǒng)可以合理準(zhǔn)確地預(yù)測熱浪芒率，提前發(fā)出警告囤耳，并建議人們呆在室內(nèi)，尋找涼爽的地方偶芍，喝大量的水充择。巧妙地使用社交媒體也會有所幫助。在2017年匪蟀，facebook上發(fā)出一項高溫天氣警告指出聪铺，孟加拉國首都達卡的熱浪危險達到390萬人，接近該市人口的一半萄窜。

Second, cool shaded areas and fresh water should be made available. In poor places, air-conditioned community centres and schools can be kept open permanently (steamy nights that provide no relief from scorching days can also kill). In Cape Town, spray parks have been installed to help people cool down. Third, new buildings must be designed to be resilient to the threat of extreme heat and existing ones adapted. White walls, roofs or tarpaulins, and extra vegetation in cities, all of which help prevent heat from building up, can be provided fairly cheaply. A programme to install “cool roofs” and insulation in Philadelphia reduced maximum indoor temperatures by 1.3?C.

其次捣作，公共部門應(yīng)提供陰涼區(qū)和淡水盆色。在貧困地區(qū)，有空調(diào)的社區(qū)中心和學(xué)醒硪可以持續(xù)開放（在潮濕的夜晚凤类，無法緩解酷熱的天氣也會導(dǎo)致死亡）穗泵。在開普敦，人們已經(jīng)安裝了噴灑公園來幫助人們降溫谜疤。第三佃延，新建筑的設(shè)計必須考慮到抵御酷熱的需要，并對仙游建筑加以改造夷磕。白墻履肃、屋頂或防水布，以及城市中的額外植被坐桩，這些都有助于防止熱量積聚尺棋，而且花費不高。在費城绵跷，一個安裝“涼棚”和隔熱材料的計劃將室內(nèi)最高溫度降低了1.3攝氏度膘螟。

It is a cruel irony that, as with other effects of climate change, the places that are hardest hit by heatwaves can least afford to adapt. In poor countries, where climates are often hotter and more humid, public-health systems are weaker and preoccupied with other threats. Often, adaptation to extreme heat is done by charities if it is done at all. Particular attention should be paid to reaching both remote areas and densely populated urban ones, including slums where small dwellings with tin roofs packed together worsen the danger that uncomfortably high temperatures will become lethal.

說起來既諷刺又殘酷，就像氣候變化的其他影響一樣碾局，受熱浪襲擊最嚴(yán)重的地方最難適應(yīng)荆残。在更熱、更潮濕的貧窮國家净当，公共衛(wèi)生系統(tǒng)較弱内斯，并且會集中精力和資源關(guān)注其他健康威脅。通常情況下，如果慈善機構(gòu)能做到這一點的話嘿期，這些國家的人民就能更好的適應(yīng)極熱天氣品擎。偏遠地區(qū)和人口稠密的城市地區(qū)也應(yīng)得到特別的關(guān)注，包括有錫屋頂?shù)男∽≌瑪D在一起的貧民窟备徐，這會加劇高溫天氣帶來的致命危險萄传。

Adaptation is not an alternative to cutting emissions; both are necessary. But even if net emissions are reduced to zero this century, the persistence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere means that heatwaves will continue to get worse for decades to come. As the mercury rises, governments in rich and poor countries alike must do more to protect their populations from this very real and quietly deadly aspect of climate change

但是適應(yīng)并不是減少排放的替代方案；兩者都是必要的蜜猾。但即使本世紀(jì)凈排放量降至零秀菱，大氣中溫室氣體的持續(xù)存在意味著未來幾十年熱浪天氣將繼續(xù)惡化。隨著汞含量的上升蹭睡，富國和窮國的政府都必須采取更多措施衍菱，保護本國人民免受氣候變化這一極其真實、悄無聲息的致命影響肩豁。

【垃圾分類脊串，保護環(huán)境，刻不容緩清钥， 人人有責(zé)】