31 May - 6 June 2001
Issue No.536
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 31 May - 6 June 2001 Issue No.536 |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
HEAT HAZARDS: Summer opened with a big bang: a heat wave so intense, the capital was smothered in a thick, stifling haze. According to the Weather Forecast Authority, the heat wave reached its peak on Monday when temperatures soared to 43 degrees Celsius. People scoffed at the figures, believing they were an under-statement. After all, this is the same authority that tells them Cairo is not getting increasingly hotter every summer, despite the collective experience of a marked heightening of discomfort during the summer months.
The authority, however, may be right in that the figure on the thermometer is only a fraction of what we actually feel. To comprehend that stifling quality of the air, you must also calculate humidity, pollution and crowding. Technically, a heat wave is characterised by stagnant weather trapping pollution in urban areas which, according to the US Weather Authority, creates "health problems of undiscovered dimensions."
But people instinctively knew that what was waiting out there could not be good for them. The city was far less crowded than usual, with many people staying home or close to home. Electricity consumption increased by 16 per cent and the Ministry of Electricity went on a red alert in a frantic attempt to keep functional the lifelines of 17 million air-conditioner users.
As the Weather Authority promised, an air depression coming from central Europe has saved us -- for now that is.
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