CLIMATE CHANGE
As many as 29 people have died due to heatstroke in South Korea, according to the South Korean Ministry of Health, Welfare and Disease Control.
The country is undergoing an extended heatwave, with at least 15 days of temperatures over 35˚C (95˚F) recorded, the Korean Meteorological Administration (KMA) reported. The agency added that Wednesday was the hottest day in Seoul in 111 years, with a temperature of 39.6˚C. The Office of the Prime Minister has ordered all public construction sites to cease work during daytime hours for the duration of the extreme temperatures. The government will also focus on medical support to communities, including providing fluid and cooling systems for 1000 elderly farmers. On the northern side of the Korean demilitarised zone, state media KCNA republished an editorial from state newspaper Rodong
Sinmun on Thursday, which said “this year’s high temperature(s are) an unprecedented natural disaster.”
The unprecedented high temperatures are also affecting neighbouring Japan, with dozens of deaths reported as temperatures top 41 degrees Celsius.
Much of the northern hemisphere has been experiencing a scorching summer characterized by heatwaves and extreme weather. Asia has been particularly hard hit. It is these types of heatwaves that scientists have been warning would be a consequence of warming the planet through greenhouse gas emissions.