Terrible nightmare in the hottest city in the world

Under the record-breaking heat, the lives of people in the city of Jacobabad (Pakistan) fell into crisis, especially the group of young children and pregnant women.

Pregnant Sonari toils in the scorching sun in a field littered with cantaloupe melons in Jacobabad, which became the hottest city in the world in May.

Waderi, Sonari's 17-year-old neighbor, gave birth a few weeks ago. She is returning to work in conditions that can exceed 50 degrees Celsius. The young mother had to put the newborn baby in the shade nearby so she could feed him when he cried, according to Reuters.

'We felt stress when the heat approached while we were pregnant,' said Sonari, in her 20s.

According to an analysis of 70 studies conducted since the mid-1990s, pregnant women who are exposed to high temperatures for long periods of time have a higher risk of complications.

According to a meta-analysis by the Global Consortium for Climate and Health Education at Columbia University, published in the British Medical Journal in September 2020, for every 1 degree Celsius increase in pregnancy mortality Retention and preterm birth would increase by about 5%.

Sonari was tired of working in the sun while pregnant.

Rising temperatures in poor countries affected by extreme weather caused by climate change are particularly vulnerable to women. Many people have little choice but to work during pregnancy and immediately after giving birth.

Not only that, but women in conservative societies like Pakistan and elsewhere often cook for their families on hot stoves or ovens, in cramped rooms with no ventilation or cooling systems.

Extreme heat

South Asia has faced unusually hot weather in recent months. According to scientists at the international research collaboration World Weather Attribution, recent intense heat waves in India and Pakistan are 30 times more likely to occur due to climate change.

Jacobabad's roughly 200,000 residents know well where they live one of the hottest cities in the world.

"If we go to hell, we'll take a blanket", is a joke many people say to each other.

Sonari and Waderi worked with about a dozen other women, some of whom were pregnant, in a melon field about 10 kilometers from the center of Jacobabad.

The record-breaking heat makes many people, especially women in Jacobabad, difficult.

They start working at 6 o'clock every day, take a short break at noon to do housework and cooking, and then return to work until sunset. Many people deal with leg cramps, fainting spells and discomfort while breastfeeding.

"It feels like no one sees them, no one cares about them," said aid worker Liza Khan, referring to the plight faced by many women in Jacobabad and the greater Sindh region.

Khan's phone rang intermittently as she drove to one of three heatstroke response centers she helped set up in recent weeks. It's also part of her work with a nonprofit group called Community Development.

With a degree in finance, Khan used to live in cooler cities across Pakistan but chose to return to his hometown because he wanted to support women in the region.

"I work 24/7 now," said the 22-year-old, adding that her organization finds the impact of extreme heat is increasingly intertwined with other health and social issues. affect women.

Difficult

On May 14, the daytime temperature in Jacobabad reached 51 degrees Celsius, making this place the hottest city in the world at that time, also the time when tragedies caused by heat occurred.

While preparing lunch for visiting relatives, young mother of five Nazia collapsed in a kitchen with no fan or air conditioning. She was taken to a nearby hospital but did not survive, the cause of death is believed to be heat stroke.

Local health officials did not respond to a request for comment on the number of heat-related deaths in recent years in Jacobabad or more specifically on Nazia's case.

The high temperatures make Jacobabad one of the hottest cities in the world.

Poverty and frequent power cuts prevent many residents from buying or using air conditioners, and sometimes even fans, for cooling.

Many experts suggest using clean energy stoves to replace cooking on open fires, providing health and social services to women in the early morning or evening when it is cool, and replacing tin roofs with materials. cooler, white to reflect solar radiation.

Pakistan's Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman said women are likely to continue to bear the impact of rising temperatures and that future climate change policies need to address specific needs. women's bodies.

"Climate change poses a significant threat to the lives of disadvantaged women in rural areas and urban slums. Women on the margins of Pakistan will be affected the most."

Pray

In a residential area of ​​the city, the driver of a donkey cart delivers 20-liter water bottles, drawn from one of several dozen private pumps around the city.

Most residents in Jacobabad depend on such water deliveries, which can eat up one-eighth to one-fifth of a household's meager income. However, water is still often not enough to use.

For young mother Razia, the cry of 6-month-old Tamanna in the afternoon heat was enough to convince her to pour some precious water over her baby. After that, she put Tamanna in front of the fan, the child quickly calmed down, playing with his mother's scarf.

Pregnant women and children face many health problems due to the heat.

Local officials say the water shortage is partly due to power cuts, meaning water cannot be filtered and pumped into pipes across the city.

Rubina, Razia's neighbor, used to fry onions and okra over the fire. She often feels dizzy from the heat and tries to pour water on her body every time she cooks to avoid fainting.

However, she did not always have enough water to do so.

"We often run out of water before it's time to buy more and have to wait. On hot days with no water, no electricity, we wake up and the only thing we do is pray," Rubina said. .