Ganeva: The United Nations issued a warning on Tuesday, urging the world to prepare for increasingly intense heatwaves. John Nairn, a senior extreme heat advisor at the UN's World Meteorological Organization (WMO), stated that these heatwaves will continue to grow in intensity, and it is crucial for countries to be ready for their impact.

At the time of the warning, Europe was already experiencing soaring temperatures and wildfires across the Northern Hemisphere. The situation had become severe enough to force the evacuation of 1,200 children from a Greek seaside resort. Health authorities worldwide were also sounding alarms about the dangers of extreme heat, emphasizing the importance of staying hydrated and seeking shelter from the scorching sun. These events serve as a stark reminder of the effects of global warming.

Heatwaves are particularly deadly natural hazards, with preventable heat-related causes leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. The rapid growth of urbanization, an increase in high temperature extremes, and demographic changes in countries with aging populations are all contributing to heat becoming a growing health risk.

According to Nairn, the number of prolonged and simultaneous heatwaves in the Northern Hemisphere has increased sixfold since the 1980s, with no indication of this trend slowing down. As a result, the impacts on human health and livelihoods are expected to be serious.

In the United States, excessive heat warnings and advisories covered more than 100 million people, as reported by the WMO over the past weekend. Europe, being the world's fastest-warming continent, was bracing for peak temperatures during the current heatwave, with Italy's islands of Sicily and Sardinia facing a forecasted high of 48 degrees Celsius (118 degrees Fahrenheit) according to the European Space Agency. The previous European temperature record stood at 48.8 degrees Celsius, recorded on Sicily in 2021.

With the increasing severity and frequency of heatwaves, the UN's warning emphasizes the urgent need for global action to address climate change and its consequences to mitigate the impacts on human lives and the environment.