The head of the Department of Emergency Situations, Raed Arafat, said that this year is the hottest since the pre-industrial era, and the next one is predicted to be even hotter. Arafat said that not only Europe should take measures against global warming, but also the whole world, News.ro notes. Due to the heat, the elderly, children and the sick are most vulnerable.

“This is the hottest year since the pre-industrial era. Next year is expected to be warmer than this year. This is called grades. In some regions of the world it reached 53 degrees. California and China. A few months ago, it was minus 52 degrees in one area of ​​China. Now they have plus 51 degrees as the maximum reached. Unfortunately, climate change will be felt. We will feel them, we will see them and we must adapt,” Raed Arafat said on Digi24 Thursday night.

Arafat emphasized that measures taken by polluting countries are necessary.

“Adaptation occurs through our behavior. First, it is not enough for one country to take action to slow these changes. These are global measures that must be taken. The most polluted countries must understand that they must take urgent measures to reduce pollution. You take measures in vain in Europe if nothing is done in India, China, USA, South America. Action must be taken everywhere, and action must be aimed at reducing impact. We are already in a phase where we can control a rise of 1.5 degrees, we already have to prevent the next threshold and it will take years, it is not done immediately,” Arafat said.

No heat RO-Alert

The head of DSU added that very high temperatures affect the elderly, children and those with certain diseases.

“Certainly, the most vulnerable people are the elderly, children, people with certain conditions, cardiovascular, neurological, and yes, if someone stays at home, they don’t have air conditioning — and air conditioning back and forth … for global warming, climate change is not recommended to use the air conditioner. Now, with such temperatures, it is very good for an elderly person to have an air conditioner. Thus, to prevent exposure to very high temperatures. If not, then the relevant persons should leave for cold regions,” Arafat said.

Raed Arafat also said that the emergency rooms are ready for the heat period and stressed that RO-Alert messages are not issued in cases of heat, as weather forecasts are announced in advance so that people have time to take action.

“Vegetation fires are no joke”

At the same time, Arafat added that there are many vegetation fires during this hot season.

“There were 94 vegetation fires just between yesterday (Wednesday) at 7am and today (Thursday) at 7am. There are obvious reasons. Yes, some of them can catch fire due to heat, but most are either deliberately clearing the ground – which is known to be illegal – or due to negligence. Attention, in past years we had deaths due to these fires. In our country, people were caught and burned alive. So it’s not a joke,” said Raed Arafat.