Severe
heatwave in Iran forces shops and public institutions to close
Temperatures
reach 45C in parts of the country and 225 people seek treatment for heatstroke
Associated
Press
Sat 27 Jul
2024 11.16 EDT
A heatwave
blanketing Iran has forced authorities to cut operating hours at various
facilities on Saturday and order all government and commercial institutions to
close on Sunday, as hospitals received more than 200 people for heatstroke
treatment.
Temperatures
ranged from 37C (98.6F) to 42C (107F) in the capital, Tehran, according to
weather reports.
The
state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) said banks, offices and public
institutions across the country would close on Sunday to protect people’s
health and conserve energy and that only emergency services and medical
agencies would be excluded.
Babak
Yektaparast, a spokesperson for the country’s emergency department, told the
semi-official Mehr news agency that 225 people had sought medical help for
heatstroke and some had been admitted to hospital.
Sadegh
Ziaian, an official at the National Meteorological Organisation, was quoted by
Mehr as saying temperatures exceeded 45C (113F) in 10 Iranian provinces on
Saturday, with the highest temperature of 49.7C (121F) recorded in Delgan, the
south-eastern city in Sistan and Balochistan province, which borders Pakistan
and Afghanistan.
He said a
drop in temperature was expected on Monday but warned that “this does not mean
that the air will cool down”.
Authorities
cut working hours on Saturday in many provinces because of the sweltering heat,
the IRNA reported. Iranian media advised people to stay indoors until 5pm local
time.
Authorities
said electricity consumption reached record levels of 78,106MW on Tuesday as
people tried to stay cool.
Nournews,
which has close links to Iran’s supreme national security council, reported on
Wednesday that temperatures in Iran are rising at twice the pace of global
temperatures. Iran has become 2C warmer over the past 50 years, compared with
1C worldwide, the agency said.
Heatwaves
are becoming more severe and prolonged owing to the global climate crisis,
which has been caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels.
Last year,
Iran ordered a two-day nationwide holiday because of increasing temperatures.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário