Bini Dahal

The sudden arrival of heat waves in the Northern Hemisphere has caused significant damage to humans as well as other living beings and physical infrastructure. Some parts of Canada have lately experienced one of the hottest weather ever. The mercury had risen above 45 degree Celsius. News reports have it that Canada had never reeled from such a massive temperature rise before. Because of that adverse weather condition, power cables melted and roads buckled.
But what remains to be the biggest issue is the death of a large number of people due to the unbearable heat and temperature rise. The impact of the heat wave is said to be highly dependent on people’s location, health and income. So, old and poor people have been more vulnerable to such calamities than others. For a region that is considered to be geographically much colder, the heat waves have hinted the changing geography and its effect on that belt. The effect of the heat waves is currently being felt in the USA as well. Its western region is expected to record the hottest weather on Earth.
Heat waves are supposed to take place mostly during the hot weather that lasts for two or more days. Such disasters happen when atmospheric pressure above an area rises. This creates a sinking column of air which traps heat absorbed by the landscape. Also, cooler, fast-moving air currents are pushed away and clouds are squeezed causing the sunlight to reach the ground directly. So, owing to the sunlight, the ground bakes up and heat energy quickly accumulates, leading the temperature to rise.
While heat waves are considered to be a frequent occurrence in arid regions, the growing climate change is a major contributor to this disaster in non-arid regions, too. Growing human activities release tons of toxic gases that stay in the atmosphere and heat it up a lot, thus, causing instances of heat waves.
Despite an unexpected phenomenon, we cannot consider it to be a completely shocking event. As per The Washington Post, climate scientists since the 1970s and 1980s had made major warnings that climate change would make heat waves more frequent, long-lasting and intense. They had projected how cold weather would be less frequent and the world and people would be left to experience extreme hot weather conditions.
When heat waves are there, the human body seeks ways to keep itself cool. This can mean the installation of cooling devices like air conditioners which are responsible for the further aggravating climate change.
Sadly, these predictions have been turning into a hard reality. We have been unable to change our nature-destroying habits. And we have no intentions to ever change them. Data concerning global incidence of increasing human-induced disasters alarms us but our own activities don’t. It is pathetic to see how countless international treaties and other initiatives have been powerless in improving situations.
Economic growth seems to be the only aim of both the developed and industrialised, and developing countries. If we continue our run for achieving the economic growth, we will be left with a short-lived robust economy that will be unable to protect us from becoming a target of the nature's fury. Therefore, this heat wave should be a big lesson for every nation. We must take such heat waves as a wake-up call. If we want to evade such disasters, let us find ways to exist in harmony with nature.