A family holding umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun walk across a street in Manila on April 25, 2024. - AFP
MANILA (dpa-AFX): A new study at the 20 most populous capital cities shows that there is an overall rise in the number of days of extreme heat experienced in a year.
An analysis by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) published on Friday shows that the world's biggest capital cities have experienced a 52% increase in the number of days reaching 35 degrees Celsius over the past three decades.
The IIED looked at the 20 most populous capital cities, including the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, the British capital London, the Egyptian capital Cairo, the Philippine capital Manila, Congo's capital Kinshasa, the Japanese capital Tokyo and the French capital Paris. These are home to more than 300 million people.
It shows an overall rise in the number of days of extreme heat, meaning millions of people are living under increasing levels of heat stress with risks to personal health and infrastructure.
According to the new study, with each decade, the number of days where the temperature hit at least 35°C has been steadily rising.
New Delhi recorded the highest number of days over 35°C out of any capital city analysed, with 4,222 days reaching that threshold.
During the past decade alone, 44% of days in the Indian capital reached 35°C - a significantly higher percentage than the previous two decades.
Other capital cities with sharp increases in the number of hot days recorded over the past 30 years include Jakarta, Seoul, Buenos Aires and Beijing. - dpa
