Public Alert and Warning System: Are We Doing it Right? A Case Study of Urban Heat Wave Hazard (Karachi)
Keywords:
Urban Heat Wave, Hazard, Karachi, humid weather, World Meteorological Organization's (WMO)Abstract
Changes in a climate result in extreme1 weather events. Heat wave or an extreme heat event, is an uncommon period of humid and hot and/or dry and hot condition in peak summer season. According to the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO), heatwave occurs in a condition where daily maximum temperature remain high for five or more days and exceeds the maximum temperature by average 5 °C (WMO). Extreme heat event is an extreme natural weather phenomenon that can fatally harm those who are overexposed to it. Russo et al., 2015 reviewed the ten highest heat wave events across the Europe from 1950 to 2015 and observed that the heat waves are not only killer of living things including human-beings, plants and animals but also paralyze the civic life and have far-reaching impacts on the livelihood and socio- economic activities.
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