Early action for heatwave in Kyrgyzstan

By the Climate Centre

The Red Crescent Society of Kyrgyzstan this weekend completed a series of early actions for heatwave in the south of the country begun when it activated its early action protocol after severe heat up to 40°C was forecast in three regions: Osh, Jalal-Abad Region and Batken, lasting at least until Tuesday.

Measures taken include hygiene kits, food parcels, and psychosocial support kits for 12,500 vulnerable people (in 2,500 households), and portable air-conditioners and child-focused kits for a further 2,500.

The EAP – worth nearly 250,000 Swiss francs from the IFRC-DREF anticipatory pillar  – was developed by the Red Crescent in 2023 with support from the German Federal Foreign Office and Red Cross; an earlier edition was activated in 2022.

Local adaptation ‘outpaced’?

World Weather Attribution scientists have said an “extraordinary” spring heatwave in Central Asia was driven by climate change and was the second-largest increase of nearly 30 heat events they had studied.

Their study found Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan recorded March temperatures up to 15°C above average, threatening glaciers, water supplies, hydroelectricity and farming.

A report from the World Bank last month on heat and cities in Europe and Central Asia said that even some Central Asian cities with historically milder climates — including Astana in Kazakhstan, Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan and Tashkent in Uzbekistan — witnessed “high heat-related mortality [suggesting] that recent increases in heat exposure may have outpaced local adaptation”.

Volunteers from the northern Talas regional branch of the Kyrgyzstan Red Crescent earlier this month conducting a public health campaign on how to stay safe during a heatwave. The work was “an important step in raising public awareness about how to protect themselves and their loved ones from the negative effects of abnormal heat,” the National Society website said. (Photo: KRCS)