How Climate Change Affects Our Daily Lives?

How Climate Change Affects Our Daily Lives?

by Rafif Prayitno

 

Climate change is not a problem in the future; it is still in the future, yet it affects our daily lives, particularly in the city of Surabaya. Due to climate change becoming ever more acutely felt worldwide, the city is periodically experiencing more severe heat waves that impact the climate and the population's health. Sleep disturbances are already a familiar phenomenon during acute heat, and they deteriorate health. 

Altena et al. (2022) also highlighted, "Several approaches to managing sleep disturbances in the context of heatwaves are proposed here, which are based on CBTI but provide selected information for groups at special risk. This is because it is reasoned that some of the other general health impacts of heatwaves may be mitigated by new methods of coping with sleep disruptions during heatwaves."

The city of Surabaya is one of the large cities in Indonesia that has registered a sharp increase in average temperature in recent years.

 A scientific study conducted in 2023 on Climate Change confirmed that Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, faces increased and longer heat waves mainly caused by global warming. These prolonged periods of heat impact physiologic function and every aspect of people's lives.

Heatwaves have, therefore, become a public health menace for many people in Surabaya. The primary effects of high temperatures involve heat stress diseases like heat exhaustion and heat stroke, which affect people with sensitive organs, such as the elderly, children, and the sick. 

These are key findings because hospitals have discovered that during these heat waves, the hospital admissions of people who require treatment for dehydration and associated effects have been on the rise.

Hence, in an interview with a public health expert, Dr. Lestari from Surabaya, she said that, during heatwaves, more people suffer from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Due to heat, air quality reduces, and situations become worse, making heat illness conditions more severe.

Besides health impacts, heat waves interfere with what people do and how they go about their business. People must give up some of their daily activities to avoid getting midday sun, which is usually the worst thing regarding the weather. 

Most employees, especially those who work during naked seasons, pointed out that they are very much affected during a heat wave because of the extreme heat.

Maya, an Universitas Negeri Surabaya student, shared her experiences during the recent heatwaves. Everyone knows it's challenging to focus when the temperature rises this high. 

Taking these issues back to classrooms, for instance, the heat negatively interferes with learning schedules. "I want more air conditioning, but people don't always have that option," she said. 

More worrying heatwaves mean an urgent need for local and global action for the city of Surabaya in particular. Preventing greenhouse gas emissions is perhaps the best solution to climate change's long-term impacts. 

At the micro scale, Surabaya can take measures to minimize heat islands by implementing green infrastructure like planting trees, many of which can be implemented throughout the city, developing green areas, including planting trees in the city, and other practices.

Basically, Dr. Lestari explained that public awareness is important. There should be awareness created to let people know that it's a big problem. In other words, initiatives like the company reducing energy usage and supporting initiatives in this sphere count.

 Of course, we also require better regulations from the government to safeguard vulnerable people and build up the framework for forthcoming heatwaves in the city.

Climate change is another factor that is becoming increasingly part of our daily lives and the case with Surabaya can be considered as vivid evidence of this trend. Since then, the climatic system has been heating, and the city needs to address these challenges and look for ways to reduce their impact further. 

Thus, yes, we have a global problem in the form of climate change, but this problem manifests locally, and it is the responsibility of each of us to be a solution to this problem.

References: Altena, E., Baglioni, C., Sanz-Arigita,E., Cajochen, C., & Riemann, D. (2023). How to deal with sleep problems during heatwaves: practical recommendations from the European Insomnia Network. Journal of Sleep Research,32(2), e13704. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.13704ALTENA ET AL . 5 of 5