After the worst heat wave in 174 years, how prepared is Asia for more extreme heat waves?

toughening it up in cities

It has also been a brutal summer for some workers in urban centres, away from the farms.

Hong Sung-wan, for example, sits at a cherry picker for several hours a day installing network cables for the South Korean broadcasting company LG Hellovision, “doing something one should do in hot weather.” “.

“When I have to wait near a utility pole for one and a half or two hours, sometimes I feel dizzy,” he said. “Whenever it happens, I think about my family, my colleagues around me and get over it.”

This could be an episode of heat exhaustion, which occurs when the body becomes excessively hot. In the worst case, it can cause heatstroke, a potentially fatal condition.

Hong feels he has to tough it out. “Employees feel they can’t do anything except do their jobs,” said the 51-year-old man, who has been working there for 20 years.