Heatwaves are killing people 

热浪在杀人

Economist Print edition | Leaders, Jul 27th 2019

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

适应气候变化有益生存，但我们需要做更多

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.

最近几天，热浪已经把美国和欧洲的大片地区变成了熔炉。尽管伴随着的相关新闻头条的狂轰乱炸，这种极端高温的影响往往被忽视或低估。飓风或洪水的惊人景象更容易引起人们的注意，然而热浪侵袭可能导致更多的死亡。热是气候变化最致命的表现之一。有时它的影响是显而易见的——据估计2003年欧洲的高热天气夺去了7万人的生命。不过，更多时候，人们认为高热天气与2018年两度袭击荷兰的热浪相似。在短短的三个多星期内，死亡人数超过当年预期300人。但这被官员们视为“轻微的上升”。不过，如果这些人在洪水中丧生，毫无疑问会成为新闻头条。

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.

由于种种原因，极热带来的危害并没有引起人们的注意。一方面，死者的分布更为分散，而且不像飓风和洪水一样毁坏财产。另一方面，中暑通常不是致死的直接原因，高温只是加剧了本身疾病的恶化程度，如心脏病或肺病，进而致命的。

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.

热浪越来越频繁，不可避免地会引起更多的关注。随着温室气体继续在大气中积累，温度不仅会整体上升，而且极端的热量会更频繁地出现（见文章）。英国气象局（Met Office）计算，不管减排速度有多快，截至本世纪中叶，与2003年一样炎热的夏季在欧洲可能是司空见惯的。此外，城市化加剧了对健康的风险：城市往往比周围的农村更热，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，如果可以采取以下三套措施，大多数死亡是可以避免的。首先，必须让人们意识到，高温会导致死亡，并建立起预警系统。预警系统可以合理准确地预测热浪，提前发出警告，并建议人们呆在室内，寻找凉爽的地方，喝大量的水。巧妙地使用社交媒体也会有所帮助。在2017年，facebook上发出一项高温天气警告指出，孟加拉国首都达卡的热浪危险达到390万人，接近该市人口的一半。

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，公共部门应提供阴凉区和淡水。在贫困地区，有空调的社区中心和学校可以持续开放（在潮湿的夜晚，无法缓解酷热的天气也会导致死亡）。在开普敦，人们已经安装了喷洒公园来帮助人们降温。第三，新建筑的设计必须考虑到抵御酷热的需要，并对仙游建筑加以改造。白墙、屋顶或防水布，以及城市中的额外植被，这些都有助于防止热量积聚，而且花费不高。在费城，一个安装“凉棚”和隔热材料的计划将室内最高温度降低了1.3摄氏度。

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.

说起来既讽刺又残酷，就像气候变化的其他影响一样，受热浪袭击最严重的地方最难适应。在更热、更潮湿的贫穷国家，公共卫生系统较弱，并且会集中精力和资源关注其他健康威胁。通常情况下，如果慈善机构能做到这一点的话，这些国家的人民就能更好的适应极热天气。偏远地区和人口稠密的城市地区也应得到特别的关注，包括有锡屋顶的小住宅挤在一起的贫民窟，这会加剧高温天气带来的致命危险。

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

但是适应并不是减少排放的替代方案；两者都是必要的。但即使本世纪净排放量降至零，大气中温室气体的持续存在意味着未来几十年热浪天气将继续恶化。随着汞含量的上升，富国和穷国的政府都必须采取更多措施，保护本国人民免受气候变化这一极其真实、悄无声息的致命影响。

【垃圾分类，保护环境，刻不容缓， 人人有责】