2024-07-20 10:29:45
On the 18th (Thursday) at 12:15 AM, on EBS1TV <지식채널e> ‘Heat Wave 4-Part Series – How Heat Waves Destroy Lives’ will be aired.
Runaway heat becomes a murder weapon
“Enjoy it while it’s still a little cooler. Every year from now on will be the hottest on record.”
– Andrew Dessler, climate scientist, Texas A&M University
May 2024, Mexico. The bodies of ‘things’ that fell from tall trees like apples are found one after another. They are about 80 monkeys. The cause was severe dehydration and high fever. The heat that is running wild due to global warming, the deaths caused by heat waves that have become murder weapons are real.
Death from heat waves includes humans as well. July 2024, the Paris Olympics are just around the corner. The famous ‘slate roof’ that makes the romantic city beautiful and unique. Built in the 19th century as part of a large-scale urban plan, it accounts for about 80% of Paris’ buildings.
But there is a tragic past behind it. About 11 years ago, in August, when a heat wave struck, about 15,000 people living alone in attics where the heat from the thatched roof was transmitted directly lost their lives. Why did they die?
<지식채널e>In this four-part series, we explore the climate catastrophe era, when deadly heat has become a reality, and what is happening as a result. <지식채널e> In the 4-part heatwave series, ‘Part 1: The Romance of Summer is Over’, we learn about the current state of the climate crisis as the number of heatwave deaths worldwide has reached 500,000.
Heatwave Creates Another Class
“When poverty combines with extreme temperatures, it can be life-threatening.”
-Climatologist, Ken Caldeira
Every summer, the climate disaster ‘heat wave’ sweeps the world at an ‘unprecedented’ rate. Where is the hottest place in the world?
In 2021, Portland, USA, was hit by extreme heat and temperatures soared to 45.5℃. On that day, the highest temperature in 147 years of temperature observation history was recorded, and the temperature in the slum ‘Lents’ rose to a whopping 51℃. This was because it was a concrete neighborhood without a single tree. On the other hand, the temperature in ‘Willamet Heights’, where the average house price is about 1 million dollars, was 37.2℃. Parks and green spaces were created throughout the neighborhood, making it about 15℃ cooler even in the heat wave.
Experts say that “the poor areas, such as slums, are the hottest because of the worst building materials, lack of green space, and unfinished buildings, which often cause heat to accumulate and overflow.” Some people feel the chill from the air conditioning, while others are helplessly exhausted by the blazing sun and heat.
<지식채널e>In this four-part series, we learn about the heatwave that is causing record-breaking heat every year and the events that are occurring as a result. <지식채널e> In the 4-part heat wave series, ‘Part 2: The Hottest Place in the World’, we learn about ‘indoor temperature’, which has become a new standard for dividing classes.
The more severe the heat wave, the wider the educational gap
“As students in developing tropical countries spend less time in school, the gap in education between countries could widen.”
-Professor Josh Goodman, Economics, Boston University
In March, 2.2 million students in Sudan, Africa, were ordered to close their schools. Since then, schools in Southeast Asia and Africa, including the Philippines, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, have closed. This is because students have found it difficult to study in the sweltering heat due to the record-breaking heat. Schools built with poorly insulated tin roofs do not even have air conditioning or fans.
It is estimated that about 40 million students worldwide will miss school due to heatwaves in 2024. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Group of 20 (G20) countries account for about 80% of greenhouse gas emissions, but about 75% of global climate damage is concentrated in poor countries.
<지식채널e>In this four-part series, we learn about the Earth moving from an era of ‘warming’ to an era of ‘weirding’ and the events that are occurring as a result. <지식채널e> In the fourth part of the heat wave series, ‘Part 3: Children Who Can’t Go to School’, we learn about the extreme heat waves that are more severe in poor countries.
Air Conditioning, the Vicious Cycle of Coolness and Heat
“The heat we create in our lives today cannot be contained anywhere. It reaches everything in the world.”
-Jeff Goodell, <폭염 살인> Between
What is it that is expected to be more common than smartphones by 2050 and that has become so globally reliant on that the risk of power outages is increasing day by day? It is the ‘air conditioner’, which has now become a necessity due to the heatwaves that continue every year.
The invention of today’s air conditioner was due to an accidental incident. In 1902, in Brooklyn, New York, a publishing company was troubled by the paper that was warping due to the hot and humid weather in the summer. Then, an electrical engineer named Willis Carrier was asked to solve the problem. After several attempts, he came up with a way to control the air condition.
The spread of air conditioners has expanded human habitation to areas where humans could not live. It is considered the greatest invention, but it has a fatal flaw. It sucks in the heat from indoors and releases it outside on the street. In other words, the indoors become cooler, but the outdoors become hotter.
<지식채널e>In this four-part series, we explore the times when heat waves are a disaster and the things that are happening because of them. <지식채널e> In the final installment of the heat wave quadripartite series, ‘Part 4: Savior or Destroyer?’, we learn about the invention and influence of air conditioners, which have become a necessity in modern times.
Reporter Park Yu-mi Photo = EBS Knowledge Channel e
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2024-07-20 10:29:45