In August 2003 there was an extraordinary
loss of life that occurred in the heart of Europe that seems to have been
overlooked by many. In these days of
terrorism, mass shootings and Ebola quiet deaths are just not news. So when 70,000 people died during the month
of August it barely made a ripple abroad.
It was caused by an unusual heat wave and the deaths were mostly
elderly. France alone lost 15,000. The temperatures rose into the 40s and stayed
there for days. Strangely, even the
nights were hot and with so many without air conditioners the elderly were
particularly vulnerable. Social
isolation and fragmented families meant that there were just too few to care or
notice. From the 4th – 14th
August France suffered its longest sequence of hot days on record. The extent of the human toll was first
detected by undertakers, who were being overwhelmed with unclaimed bodies. In
Paris, some of the corpses had to be kept in a warehouse outside the city when
mortuaries were full. By the heat wave’s
end it became clear that the nation had some soul searching to do. It was made worse by the fact that bodies, in
large numbers, remained unclaimed for burial.
Given that global warming should contribute to more, not less, of these
unusual extreme conditions we have all much to reflect on. Dehydration,
hyperthermia and heat stroke fuelling cardiac and respiratory diseases claimed
many lives. The elderly were the
vulnerable section of society that bore the brunt of deaths. A disheartening
discovery was that one of four victims had no family, friends, or even a single
social link. Such stark isolation along
with a lack of national policy of how to deal with such extreme conditions
meant the deaths took everyone by surprise.
Shame was also felt by the nation as a whole. If we judge our society by how it treats the
young, the old and the ill then this tragic event highlighted deep
problems. In this electronic age of
world wide communication, instant messages, Facebook and Skype it seems, in
reality, people are often more isolated than every before. Loneliness and isolation can actually
kill. How we live as a society can
either contribute to our wellbeing or lead to us dying alone and unnoticed.
Lessons must be learned. Heat waves have happened before in other places. Chicago had a heat wave in the summer of 1995
and fatalities were mostly from the poorest and most vulnerable African
American community. One community that
bucked the trend was the equally poor Hispanic population. This community is thought to have better
survival rates due to its unity and cohesion.
In July 2010 Russia lost a third of their wheat harvest in fires due to
a heat wave reaching temperatures of 44 degrees. By the end of that month 56,000 Russians had
died.
Climate change is happening and
its costs are already being felt by life on this planet. Society is wasting time on wars and battles
that are using resources that should be put in place to save lives not end
them. This is one planet and we are one
race, the human race. Each life lost
diminishes us. How we choose to live
will effect who and how many will die.
As a society we need to make wise informed choices and learn to build
cohesive communities, as if our lives depended on it. Because they do!
