UNITED NATIONS: Warning of a possible rise in heatwave deaths due to climate change, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction on Thursday called for measures to reduce mortality from this natural hazard.

The warning came days after the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) announced that global temperatures for the first six months of this year reached new highs, setting 2016 on track to be the hottest-ever on record, and the temperature hit 54 degrees Celsius in Kuwait last week.

“Millions of people around the world should be receiving heat-related warnings and advisories if we are to avoid a repeat of the thousands of deaths which occurred last year from heatwaves notably in Asia and Europe,” said Robert Glasser, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction.

From 2005 to 2014, an average of 25 major heatwaves were recorded each year resulting in an annual average death toll of 7,232.

In 2015, the hottest year on record, there were 3,275 reported deaths from heatwaves in France, 2,248 in India, and 1,229 in Pakistan.

“Climate change is amplifying the impact of many extreme weather events including heatwaves,” he added, stressing the need for disaster risk management to focus more on extreme heat to reduce mortality from this particular natural hazard.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2016