Try sitting for five minutes in a room without an aircon or electric fan and feel yourself melt like ice tossed out into the bright noon heat.
The heat has been intense these past few days. Health warnings have been issued against heat stroke, which can lead to death. As of this writing, dozens of schools in Manila have suspended classes for precisely this health risk.
The weather bureau announced that the heat index could reach the “danger” level of 42 degrees Celsius up to 43 degrees the next day. The heat index, as defined, is the “measure of the temperature that a person feels, computed by factoring in the humidity as well as the air temperature.”
While many of us may scoff at the idea of expiring from the heat — aren’t we used to this hot, humid weather? — experts warn that “a heat index of 42 to 51 degrees Celsius can cause heat cramps and heat exhaustion,” with heat stroke “probable with continued exposure.”
PAGASA says the heat index will worsen this April. Find shelter from the sun, drink plenty of water, and try to say goodbye to your favorites like soda, coffee, and tea for a while.
Aggravating this energy-depleting piece of news are others: power service interruptions for some days in certain areas, and let’s not discount a water shortage, what with rice fields drying up and shores expanding as waters recede.
Clearly, Filipinos will be challenged by weather-related situations, from excruciating heat exacerbated by a lack of electricity to higher electricity bills due to overtaxed air conditioners and electric fans.
It’s a summertime challenge, but perhaps not as intense as this year.
And what else is hot nowadays? Fears of pertussis, that hacking cough that persists for weeks and could potentially kill babies, and anthrax, not yet seen in the Philippines but apparently rising in cases in other countries like Laos, a neighbor.
However, the Department of Health closely monitors these diseases and assures the public that there is nothing to fear. The risk of anthrax is “very low” for most Filipinos, it says.
Anthrax, if you didn’t know already, is a disease that affects humans who get exposed to infected animals. So, we are talking about farmers and veterinary personnel. The legion with pets might automatically recoil at the mention of “vet,” but in this case, it is not the person-to-person contagion we must fear, but rather among animals. And these are animals that people eat — meaning that when there is a shortage in the food supply, we already know what may happen.
Well, panic happens. Even big, powerful countries have seen a dwindling food supply to become a problem in the future, with populations rising and natural resources depleting. So these very same countries are trying to gain more territory, and as we can see, it is causing more heat, the kind that could erupt into unwanted, unnecessary wars.
These are by far the threats ordinary folks face, creating problems for our physical health, our wallets, and our peace of mind.
Many of our problems can be solved easily if only we had cooler heads. But temperatures tend to rise these days about fickle matters, and in a world that seems to be melting under its own heat, we would rather work toward stemming predicted losses, shortages, and depletions.
Under the El Niño sun, we can contemplate the world’s melting values and how power turns leaders’ brains to mush.
