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Heat waves do have a much more dramatic effect on people living in a cool to mild climate. They experience a higher degree of stress to their bodies than acclimatized residents of subtropical and tropical regions do. For example, death rates in Great Britain and the Netherlands increase sharply when the thermometer climbs above 25°C.
Devastating heat waves in the last five years of the 20th century pose the question whether global warming has increased the frequency and severity of heat waves. There is no doubt that the earth is getting warmer. Highest ever temperatures are being recorded throughout the world. But many scientists are still not prepared to link these recent temperature extremes to global warming, as they say heat waves have been a fact of summer since recording started. To prove the trend of global warming, the climatologists require many more years of temperature records.
In the meantime, weather forecasting takes into account the impact of heat on human
health. Weather services issue warnings whenever the temperature and humidity is
expected to reach a certain level. Scientists developed an apparent temperature table:
Heat Index. Community services issue emergency and educational messages through the
media that deal with the health implications and prevention of heat-
How do we define heat waves? The Encyclopaedia Britannica defines it simply as ‘a period of exceptionally hot weather, often with high humidity’. But what is ‘exceptionally hot’? For the temporary residents of Casey in the Antarctic, the highest recorded temperature of 9.2°C must have felt like an exceptionally hot day. By contrast, the population of Marble Bar, a small town in Australia’s Pilbara region, may feel quite comfortable with their average daily maximum of above 40°C in summer. The town holds the infamous record of more than 170 consecutive days above 37.8°C. Despite these high temperatures, even the settlers of European descent think of it as nothing unusual – they are acclimatized.