Editorial | Living in a hotter world

One of the surprises of this summer, compared to the last, is how little the Jamaican authorities, especially the health ministry, have been warning people about the dangers of extreme heat.

They will probably say that unlike 2023, particularly in the month of July, when the island faced scorching temperatures, Jamaica has not been the subject of heatwaves. Which would be to cling to a technicality while ignoring or not paying sufficient attention to a serious, and worsening, problem.

For while heatwaves are defined as temperatures higher than an area’s historically high for two or more consecutive days, Jamaicans have, for several weeks, complained of extreme heat as the mercury in thermometers regularly moved north of 30 degrees Celsius.

But more importantly, these higher temperatures are no passing phenomena. They are among the locked-in effects of global warming and climate change with which the Government has an obligation to educate citizens, especially those most at risk, about how to cope.

ONGOING PROCESS

That cannot be a one-off endeavour. It has to be an ongoing process, for the foreseeable future, seriously exercising myriad agencies, including the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM). Indeed, the ODPEM has to begin to think of heat catastrophes in the same way as it approaches preparedness for, say, hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes.

At the same time, the Government has to integrate living in a time of extreme heat into its policies and laws covering occupational safety as well as the way Jamaicans design and construct homes, offices, and public infrastructure. They have to be functional and sustainable in the new environment.

Those who may question that higher global temperatures are the new normal, preferring to think of it as a passing phase, need only look at the recent developments.

In 2023, Earth’s average land and ocean surface temperature was 1.18 degrees Celsius (2.12 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the average for the previous 173 years. It was also the hottest year on record, beating the previous warmest, 2016, by 0.15 degrees Celsius (0.27 degrees Fahrenheit).

Additionally, the 10 hottest years since 1850, the benchmark year used by scientists to track Earth’s higher temperatures, all occurred in the decade up to 2023, whose average was 1.35 degrees Celsius (2.43 degrees Fahrenheit) above the average for the modern pre-industrial period – between 1850 and 1900.

Further, scientists say it is 99 per cent certain that 2024 will be even hotter than 2023.

Indeed, this month posted the two days of temperature record in succession: July 21 broke the old record of July 6 last year. Then the new record was broken the following day.

TAKING A TOLL

The hotter planet is taking a toll on all aspects of human life, including people’s health and their capacity to do their jobs.

A recently released report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) warned governments of the increasing workplace risks of the hotter times and urged action to mitigate the growing crisis.

Said the report: “Heat stress is an invisible killer. It can immediately impact workers on the job by leading to illnesses such as heat exhaustion, heatstroke, and even death as has already been witnessed in many regions of the world. In the longer term, workers are developing serious and debilitating chronic diseases, impacting the cardiovascular and respiratory systems as well as the kidneys. The mental health impacts must also be considered as well as the numerous accidents and injuries occurring due to reduced cognitive performance, slippery and heated surfaces, and unsuitable personal protective equipment ... .”

From a health perspective, the ILO estimated that globally, 26.2 million people live with chronic kidney disease attributable to heat stress at work. This accounted for around three per cent of all chronic kidney disease cases, ranging from a high of 3.34 per cent in Africa to 1.8 per cent in the Americas, a region that includes Jamaica.

The Americas, with a 33.3 per cent increase since 2000, is the region of the world with the fastest growth in heat-related occupational injuries. That, like the other potential health dangers, demands attention. The report projected that US$361 billion could be saved if occupational safety and health measures were implemented to prevent heat-related injuries, which account for nearly 19,000 deaths and several million non-fatal injuries.

Data such as these provide part of the backdrop against which Jamaica has to reorient its policies to contend with a hotter Earth. This must include strategies to protect the old and the very young, who are most vulnerable to heatwaves and otherwise scorching temperatures from which many people have little opportunity for respite.

There also has to be new thinking about the organisation of workplaces, and in some cases, the very structure of work – and not only with respect to jobs performed outdoors.

This conversation should already have been taking place between the Government and other stakeholders, including employers, workers, and trade unions. If it has not begun, it must start immediately.

How the country builds must also be taken into account. The integrity of higher temperatures on buildings is one issue. The ventilation of buildings, especially new high-rise structures with few windows and designed to be continually air-conditioned, raises new questions about sustainability.

The point is, global warming is not only about the storms and floods and coastal erosion that it may induce. Hotter temperatures itself poses challenges of how people adapt, including in Jamaica.