Bear the heat

Now, it's about the heat wave, Climate change models did predict more fatal heat waves, altho' it does happen every year, it just gets worst. And freak weathers are happening around the world, like a report updated by AFP at 05:21 today titled: "Freak storms hit Europe, hundreds of houses flooded" . It says that a violent electrical storm struck the Paris region, flooding hundreds of houses, disrupting two lines on the metro system and causing delays at the city's two main airports. Elsewhere, lightning struck an electrical center in Switzerland, blocking about 100 trains in the second major breakdown to hit the Swiss railway system in two days. Luckily, no casualties were reported, but a motorcyclist had to be rescued when he was engulfed by water under a Paris road tunnel. In addition, South Asia is not the only one under the sufferings of the heat wave. France and other countries like Portugal, Spain, Nepal, and many more are also in the heat. Just from the South Asia heat wave alone, at least 375(yesterday was 200) people have died from sunstroke and dehydration in a month-long heat wave sweeping India, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh, as it endures one of its hottest summers on record, authorities said. From the report: "Temperatures hit 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) in some parts of South Asia this week, parching fields, emptying dams and drying river beds ahead of the annual monsoon.

Freak weather extended as far as northern China, where the heat set off explosives at a chemical plant in Shanxi province that injured hundreds. In central Chongqing city, authorities opened old bomb shelters so people can cool off.

Worst hit was India's impoverished eastern state of Orissa, where almost 100 people were reported killed from the heat.
Streets in the region emptied and many cities and villages resembled ghost towns as residents stayed indoors to avoid the sun. The state ordered government offices to close before noon.

"The heat wave along with occasional power-cuts had made life miserable here," said Lingaraj Panda, a local resident.
Officials reported drinking water shortages in the giant Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh as ponds and lakes dried up and villagers were forced to travel 10km to 15km to fetch water from deep wells.

Beer sales in New Delhi hit a record high with nearly 6 million bottles being sold in the first three weeks of this month as temperatures hit 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 Fahrenheit).
India's weather department says the June-September rains got off to a weak start, but initial showers are now being reported across southern India and Bombay.

The month-long heatwave also killed more than 100 people in neighbouring Bangladesh, while in Pakistan more than 65 people died in the past week, including at least 24 believed killed over the last 24 hours from the heat, authorities said.

Villagers in Bangladesh held prayers in mosques and temples for rain -- though not too much rain. Last year, devastating floods caused by monsoon rains in July-September killed more than 1,000 people and left about 10 million homeless.

"The monsoon is playing truant this year in Bangladesh as well as in India, scorching farmland and killing people," one weather official said.

Tahir Ali Javed, Health Minister of Pakistan's central Punjab province told Reuters all the fatalities have come in the province where temperatures soared to 46 degrees Celsius (115 Fahrenheit) on Wednesday.

Temperatures shot up to 44 degree Celsius (111.2 Fahrenheit) in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Tuesday - a four-year record.
At least 11 people have died in neighbouring Nepal, a local media report said, but monsoon rains had now begun in most parts of the country." Well, at least some rain did fall in some parts of some country but it's not gonna be enough to help cool of this heat.

About the heat wave in France: "France was on a heat-wave alert yesterday as the government released its new emergency plan to avoid a repeat of the nearly 15,000 deaths attributed to the scorching temperatures during the summer of 2003.

As the mercury climbed above 30 degrees in parts of France during the past two days, Health Minister Xavier Bertrand released the new heat-wave plan including measures to bolster emergency services and to care for elderly people living on their own.

Meanwhile, extreme or severe drought has gripped 79 per cent of Portugal, the government's water institute said yesterday. The country has slashed the wheat-harvest forecast by as much as 70 per cent.

In neighbouring Spain, farmers also expect huge losses. Environment Ministry data show Spain's water reserves stand at 56 per cent of capacity." Hopefully, the heat wave incident in 2003 could be totally avoided. This, again, shows an obvious consequence - drier countries get drier, wetter countries get wetter.

"The monsoon is playing truant this year in Bangladesh as well as in India,
scorching farmland and killing people,"