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| PHÎÒÎ: AP |
As preparing for winter in Ukraine is a lengthy and well-regulated process, Ukrainians are not accustomed to preparing for a hot summer. In the mean time, European scientists have proven that heat is much worse than cold. According to statistics, a two-day wave of extremely low temperatures increases the average death rate by 1.59%, while a two-day wave of extremely high temperatures increases the same indicator by 5.74%
While no such studies are conducted in Ukraine, statistics are available. The last time temperatures hit record highs was in 2007. The number of deaths in July-August of that year soared by 2,000 – 2,500 on average compared to 2006 and 2008.
Environmentalists have repeatedly warned that abnormally hot summers will become a normal phenomenon in the 21st century and that the governments of countries throughout the world must think about how to adapt to such climate changes.
But with record-breaking temperatures every day, there is no sense in saying that little has been done to counter this phenomenon. Over the past weeks, Ukrainians have understood that there is a shortage of ambulances, hospitals are overcrowded, the asphalt is melting and the electricity systems fail due to an overload of networks. Solving such problems is not a matter of a week or even a year. On the other hand, world experience shows that had the government taken a few emergency measures, the results would be tangible within a week or two.
The issue is about decisions that do not even require substantial government subsidies. After all, people understand that the country does not have massive reserves. First of all, not many Ukrainians are aware of the existence of a normative document that specifies a temperature mode in workplaces.
Moreover, one gets the impression that such norms are deliberately not made public.
Back in 1999, the Ministry of Healthcare approved the Sanitary Standards of Microclimates in Work Premises, according to which the maximum allowable temperature at a workplace should not exceed 19-25 degrees Celsius depending on the complexity of the work performed.
There is one “but”, however, as the regulations set maximum indicators but envisage no sanctions against their violation. Theoretically, if such indicators exceed allowable norms, the working day of employees must be reduced by at least 10%. But the norms are so vague that any employer can easily ignore them.
Meanwhile, in Russia state-run and privately owned companies extended the period of lunch breaks the way it is done in Spain, where it is known as “siesta”. In Germany, the employers of government departments and institutions are simply allowed not to come to work if the air temperature exceeds 40°C.
In Ukraine, the government even fathoms the notion of a siesta or cutting working hours, while a simple resolution of the government could substantially alter this situation. Naturally, a reduction of working hours of private commercial structures is highly unlikely. Nevertheless, some owners of private businesses that do not want to deal with labor protection authorities would willingly install air conditioners for their employees.
In addition, controlling both maximum and minimum temperatures in offices is crucial during the heat wave. Medics say air conditioners may cause heavy respiratory infections and even pneumonia. In Mariupol, for example, the number of respiratory cases has recently hit the epidemic threshold of 30.4%.
Secondly, one of the reasons for the galloping sicknesses rate during the heat wave is food poisoning. On this backdrop, the fact that some local authorities cut off water supply due to unpaid bills is absolutely absurd. It is clear that in such hot weather city residents will simply be forced to pay for housing utilities. What remains unclear, though, is why the city authorities do not ban such drastic measures.
Thirdly, during the last high heat wave in the over-regulated Europe in 2007, the governments and local authorities of Germany, France, Italy and a number of other countries allowed their citizens and tourists to bathe in public fountains and bodies of water. Doctors said this measure saved thousands of lives.
In Ukraine today, access to 90% of beaches has been prohibited in major cities. Unfortunately, many residents cannot afford the admission fee to paid beaches ranging from UAH 10 to UAH 50. Taking into account that according to the Constitution, water resources are state-owned property, the government could easily allow free access to water if the temperature exceeds the set maximum.
The list of the aforementioned mechanisms could be supplemented by a requirement to provide free drinking water at workplaces (for example, in Vilnius, the city hall organized free distribution of bottled water in public transport, banned increasing the taxi fare, ordered watering down the asphalt of overheated streets in the evenings etc. Such policies require serious control, otherwise they will be ignored. However, the some policies installed by our taxmen showed that where there is a will. For the time being, it looks like our authorities are doing their best to make more Ukrainians suffer from the heat.
Info
All of Europe is suffering from the heat wave. In its southern parts, temperatures have reached the level of countries in Central Africa. In the Czech Republic, for the first time in its history, the temperature was over 40 degrees for thirteen days straight. Temperature records have been broken in Spain, Italy, France and Germany. On this background, the average temperature of 35 degrees Celsius in Ukraine looks quite modest. But one can say with conviction that Ukrainians are suffering more than other Europeans.
One of the reasons for this is the absence of air conditioners in public transport. In Baltic countries, air conditioners in buses are not coping with the heat. This is one reason the bus fleet been drastically cut. The German railways (Deutsche Bahn) was forced to evacuate passengers on 40 trains due to the failure of air conditioners. Ukraine does not have such a problem simply because our trains by and large are not equipped with air conditioners. The situation is even more interesting in new models of transport: in modern passenger railway cars and busses it is impossible to open windows as air conditioners are not turned on to save energy. As a result, the air temperature reaches sizzling 40°C.
- Road surfaces. In Ukraine, according to standards, asphalt-concrete gets soft under temperatures of 28°C. Accordingly, under the current heat any car deforms the road surface, which is being observed in a number of regions. In Europe, asphalt-concrete begins to melt at 40°C.
- Problems with electricity grids. Outdated grids cannot operate during extremely hot temperatures. Power outages are being observed all across the country. The reason for this is the number of air conditioners growing by the day. Ukrainians were the most active buyers of air conditioners in the world in 2007, by the way. In Europe, only new EU members and southern countries know about such problems. This is not an issue of new electricity grids. Europeans do not use air conditioners to save them from heat at home and in the office, but a centralized system of ventilation and conditioning (for Germany it is mandatory). Electricity savings for cooling premises compared with air conditioners reaches 80%.
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