Natural disasters are common throughout the world, and they occur when they are least expected and in places that no one can think about. In most cases, natural disaster lead to loss of properties and damage to the environment, and most importantly, leads to health hazards. In this discussion, the natural disaster of focus will be heat wave which was experienced in Europe in 2003 (Poumadere, Mays, Le Mer & Blong, 2005).
In 2003, European nations were affected by heat wave whose primary cause was anticyclone over Western Europe that forfeited precipitation leading to extreme temperatures for about three months, between June and August. The heat was estimated to be between 10-20% above the normal temperature, and was particularly high in France. The high heat most affected the elderly people, as well as the chronically ill, and was registered as the most severe disaster in Europe since 1540 (Poumadere, Mays, Le Mer & Blong, 2005).
The most common public health risk realized on the occurrence of heat waves are; fainting, headache, dizziness, heat stroke, confusion as well as unconsciousness. Heat stroke is the main cause of increased mortality rate, amounting to about 70,000 people who died in Europe as a result of heat wave (Robine et al., 2008). It also leadd to people drowning as they try to cool their bodies, and most of people suffer from cardiovascular and respiratory problems. The victims might also be in danger of long-term health risks, such as heart failure particularly due to extreme dehydration rates. Besides, people were exposed to severe sunburn, meaning that the effects on their skin could lead to skin cancer at some point of their lives, all of which lead to death.
In general, heat wave had a higher risk of causing another type of natural disaster. This is because, heat wave led to air pollution, which was the main cause of people’s death in Europe. Normally, particulate matters are the main cause of air pollution, and they get to the bloodstream through the lungs where they strike the heart causing death. Death caused by air pollution is itself a natural disaster initiated by heat wave.
References
Poumadere, M., Mays, C., Le Mer, S., & Blong, R. (2005). The 2003 heat wave in France: dangerous climate change here and now. Risk analysis,25(6), 1483-1494.
Robine, J. M., Cheung, S. L. K., Le Roy, S., Van Oyen, H., Griffiths, C., Michel, J. P., & Herrmann, F. R. (2008). Death toll exceeded 70,000 in Europe during the summer of 2003. Comptes rendus biologies, 331(2), 171-178.
