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It’s water festival time in Thailand, where many people are celebrating the country’s traditional New Year by spraying each other with water from colorful water guns and buckets, in what is often a noisy celebration , in which thousands of people gather, while record-high temperatures have been recorded in the Southeast Asian nation this year. Worry (Also read | Iran, Thailand allow visa-free entry for Indian passport holders; List of places to travel without visa during holiday season,
The festival, known as Songkran in Thailand, is a three-day shindig that began on Saturday and unofficially lasts a full week, allowing people to travel for family gatherings. The holiday is also celebrated under different names in neighboring Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, whose populations, like Thailand, are predominantly Theravada Buddhists.
Songkran is extremely popular – this year it is estimated to attract more than 500,000 foreign tourists and generate more than 24 billion baht ($655 million) in revenue, according to the state tourism agency. Previous Thai governments have been reluctant to curtail recreation even during crises such as drought and pandemics
Although the festival began as a way to pray for rainy weather, which helped crops, and included activities such as cleaning Buddha images and washing the hands and feet of the elderly, Songkran now often involves public drunkenness, Linked to sexual harassment. Under the guise of fun, traffic deaths have increased, to the extent that the extended holidays have been dubbed the “Seven Dangerous Days”.
The festival generally falls during the hottest time of the year when temperatures go above 40 °C (104 Fahrenheit).
But this year, an unusual heat wave with record temperatures expected in the next few months has raised fears. The United Nations Children’s Fund warned Thursday that hot weather could put the lives of millions of children at risk, and urged caregivers to take extra precautions.
The UNICEF statement said that in the Asia-Pacific region, “about 243 million children are exposed to hotter and longer-lasting heatwaves, putting them at increased risk of multiple heat-related illnesses and even death.” There is danger.”
Heat waves can be deadly because they affect the ability to breathe, leaving the old and young especially vulnerable.
Benjamin Horton, director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore, where natural phenomena such as climate change are studied, said three factors determine heat waves; El Nino, natural, temporary and occasional warming of part of the Pacific Ocean, resulting in global warming and human-induced climate change.
Poor people are especially vulnerable to heat waves, he said, which gets worse in many Southeast Asian cities, where concrete buildings make the weather more harsh and few trees provide shade. .
Last year saw record high global average temperatures and heat waves in Southeast Asia were mirroring that trend, Horton said, adding that “it’s going to get even worse.”
The entire Mekong Delta, which includes Vietnam as well as Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia, saw extreme heat, with temperatures exceeding 5–7 °C (41–44.6 °F) in parts of Laos and Thailand. . Average between April 3-9, according to the Mekong Dam Monitor Program of the Stimson Center in Washington, DC
This extreme heat also means less water for hydroelectric dams to produce energy.
“From increased energy demand to compromised grid capacity, heat waves place significant strain on power systems. According to Dmitry Pescia, Southeast Asia director at Agora Energiewende, a German-based think tank, hydropower production is particularly affected “when the heat causes drought that lasts for several years.”
“The cumulative impacts of climate change pose major risks to societies and ecosystems,” he said.
Singapore’s Horton said drastic reductions in Earth-warming carbon emissions are needed as people learn to adjust to the new climate, including learning about the dangers of extreme hot weather and prompting authorities to protect people from high temperatures. Including creating an emergency response to give advance warning about and providing them. Areas should be cooled if necessary.
Last week, the Philippines suspended classes in more than 5,800 public schools and switched to home-based and online learning to protect millions of students from the scorching heat.
Schools in many cities, including the crowded capital Manila, shifted classes to early morning hours to avoid sharp rises in midday and afternoon temperatures. In addition, thousands of students in grade and high schools were allowed to attend school every other day and alternate between online classes, officials said.
Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan, a medical doctor, said they have limited outdoor activities, especially if the heat index rises to extreme levels. “If people don’t have any urgent business outside, the best precaution is really to stay indoors.”
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