When Karachi lost its cooling system — sea breeze

Karachi
Many in the upcountry are actually fond of the weather in Karachi during summers as its soothing sea breeze keeps the mercury level in the city below the mid-30s degrees Celsius even in the harshest of heat waves in the country.
But with over 1,100 heat-related deaths in Karachi in just six days, what went wrong?
The chief culprit, meteorologists and nature experts told The News on Friday, was an unprecedented weather system - a huge and wide “low pressure area” that later turned into a depression - in the Arabian Sea formed some 400 kilometres away from Karachi on June 19 just as Ramazan started and stopped the sea breeze.
The depression remained stationary in the Arabian Sea for a few days, increasing the temperature in Karachi by 10 degrees Celsius.
The extremely hot and humid weather especially when many citizens were fasting, along with power outages and water shortage, caused over 1,100 deaths in Karachi from June 20 to 25, as thousands of citizens suffered heatstroke, dehydration and electrolyte imbalance because of sweating and water loss.
The meteorological department was expecting the depression to move towards Karachi at its normal speed and cause widespread rains in Karachi and the rest of the province. Instead, it remained stationary, stopping the south-westerly winds or Sea Breeze and after a few days, headed towards the Indian state of Gujrat where it dissipated.
“The establishment of a low pressure area in the Arabian Sea is not a unique phenomenon in the month of June but this particular weather system acted strangely as it remained stationary for a long period in the sea and stopped the sea breeze,” said Abdul Rashid, the director of the Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics, Karachi.”
“Later, instead of moving towards Karachi, it moved towards Gujrat, depriving the city and its adjoining areas of its due share of pre-monsoon rains.”
The meteorology and geophysics expert said June was normally a hot month in Karachi but the sea breeze, which blows in the south-westerly direction, cools down Karachi and the temperature remains at around 35 degrees Celsius.
“This time, the sea breeze stopped just as the holy month of Ramazan started and the temperature hit as high as 49 degrees Celsius. As many people were fasting, they suffered heatstroke and dehydration.”
Climate change
Responding to a query, Rasheed said climate change too was responsible for the unprecedented hot weather in Karachi. “Global carbon emissions are increasing the sea level and temperatures and that’s why the weather patterns are changing across the world including Pakistan.
“This monsoon season, we have forecast less than normal rains in Sindh and Balochistan but these spells will be severe, inundating roads and putting extraordinary burden on the infrastructure,” he warned.
Health experts say that people could have survived the hot weather spell in Karachi if the citizens would have been provided with uninterrupted power and water supplies.
“There was no electricity at homes and offices most of the times during this extremely hot spell and that also caused water and ice shortages in many areas of the city,” gastroenterologist Dr Shahid Ahmed told The News.
“People were fasting and the sudden loss of body fluids resulted in sudden deaths,” he added.
He said many people broke their fast when they felt that they were fainting because of thirst, heatstroke and dehydration and this saved their lives.
“Islam allows its followers to break their fast in life-threatening situations,” he added.
“But many were not fortunate enough and they fell unconscious because of heatstroke and dehydration and died either while they were being shifting to a hospital or at ill-equipped and poorly-managed health facilities.”
Dr Saif Ali Khan, who saved hundreds of lives during these excruciatingly hot days in Karachi at the Valika Hospital in SITE, said he along with the paramedical staff administered two IV lines to each of patient brought there and also used cold-sponging, improving their electrolyte imbalance and reducing their body temperature and saving their lives.
This two IV lines method worked. Not a single heatstroke or dehydration patient admitted to the Valika Hospital died.
Aga Khan University Hospital officials said an analysis of the 353 heatstroke patients admitted to their facility during the last five days – 31 of which died – indicated that most of them had low levels of sodium and potassium because of excessive sweating.
“Most affected individuals can replenish their salt and water with ORS or a sports drink. However, patients with an illness should always consult their physician first,” said Dr Munawar Khursheed, an emergency medicine consultant at the AKUH.
“Heatstroke can occur when your body temperature rises to 40 degree centigrade or higher. Avoid a heatstroke by following some very simple steps: wear loose clothing, avoid direct exposure to the sun and drink plenty of fluids. If you notice the symptoms of overheating, high body temperature, red or dry skin, a rapid pulse, a throbbing headache or dizziness, go to a hospital immediately,” he added.
Although the number of heatstroke patients arriving at the city hospitals has reduced, the AKUH still received 43 in the last 24 hours.