We cannot prevent disasters … What we hope to do is to be more proactive, to be better prepared so that we can react better, faster.
Very hot and very cold temperatures can occur in the same place at different times: whilst Southern Asian territories have hot summers, winters can be very cold. Extreme temperatures are most dangerous when they are unusual in that location.The highest absolute number of heatwaves occurred in India and Japan, followed by the USA and Pakistan. Most fatalities through heatwaves have been recorded in Russia, France and Italy. In Russia most of them were caused during a devastating heatwave in 2010, which started in Moscow in June 2010 as temperatures reached 33.1 °C (91.6 °F), and stayed around 30 °C (90 °F) for the rest of the week. France was hit badly in a heatwave in Western Europe in 2003, that caused also casualties in Germany and the United Kingdom.
According to recent studies an increased occurrence of such events due to climate change and global warming is highly likely.
