May 10, 2010
Myanmar people have been suffering from the impact of extreme hot weather this summer in terms of diseases, business and water shortage in various part of the country.
Summer season in Myanmar lasts from March to May, and April represents the hottest month.
As a rare phenomena in several decades, this year is experiencing excessive heat strike, with the day temperatures in central Myanmar reaching a record high of between 43 and 45 degree Celsius, 5 to 6 degree Celsius above April average maximum temperature.
The Myanmar authorities have stopped traders in the country from exporting rice in order to reserve for domestic demand due to less production.
Meanwhile, thousands of fish, bred in ponds in the country's southwestern Ayeyawaddy division, died of heat during the current summer season.
There was even worse case that all 100,000 fishes died in a single day in Twantay township, Yangon division.
Fish breeders feared that such cases would continue as long as there is no rainfall.
The excessively high temperature also led to water shortage in many villages in the country.
As an alternative, the villagers are digging up wells near the dry ponds to get water.
The heat wave has also spred flu and skin allergy and the lack of electricity and water intensified the suffering.
There was news report about a sudden death of a taxi driver in Yangon when heat struck him inside the car.
The authorities have advised people to remain indoor in the day time to prevent from exposure to excessive heat.
Amid the extreme hot weather, Myanmar's cyclone-ravaged Ayeyawaddy division has enjoyed a rare heavy rainfall last Thursday.
In the Ayeyawaddy delta, which was destroyed by deadly cyclone Nargis in May 2008, over 180,000 people are now suffering from fresh water shortage due to the summer heat.
Source: Xinhua
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Extreme hot weather grills Myanmar
Heat wave kills 2 people in Myanmar
22:05, May 11, 2010
Two people have died of heat strike in Myanmar's former capital of Yangon over the past few days, the local weekly Yangon Times reported Tuesday.
The two drivers of three-wheelers were dead under scorching noon sun after they dropped their passengers at the destination.
Frightened by the tragedy, all other drivers stopped their business immediately in the afternoon but resumed in the evening to avoid the life-threatening temperature, the report said.
Summer season in Myanmar lasts from March to May, and April represents the hottest month.
As a rare phenomena in several decades, this summer is undergoing excessive heat wave.
The day temperatures in central Myanmar posted a record high at between 43 and 45 degree Celsius, 5 to 6 degree Celsius above April average maximum temperature.
People are forced to choose to remain indoor in the day time and knowledge about prevention from heat is being publicly disseminated.
Source:Xinhua
Many village water ponds in Myanmar dry up due to summer heat
May 5, 2010 8:16 pm
YANGON, May 5 — Drinking water ponds in many villages in Myanmar have dried up due to excessively high weather temperature during the current summer season, according to local sources on Wednesday.
Because of lying near the sea, the villages normally get salt- water.
As an alternative, the villagers are digging up some tube-wells near the dry ponds, the sources said.
Meanwhile, thousands of fishes, bred in ponds in the country's southwestern Ayeyawaddy division, died of heat stress daily, according to local fish breeders.
The phenomena is the worst in the last two decades, they said.
There were even some cases that all 100,000 fishes died in a single day in Twantay township, Yangon division, fish breeders in the township said, fearing that such cases would continue as long as there is no rainfall.
The month of April falls within the summer which lasts from March to the end of May in Myanmar.
The day temperatures in central Myanmar this summer have reached a record high in over four decades, peaking at between 43 and 45 degree Celsius in such regions as Minbu, Magway, Mandalay, Monywa, Chauk and Mingyan as well as in Yangon over the past week, which are 5 to 6 degree Celsius above April average temperature.
April represents the hottest month of Myanmar and this year it is experiencing excessive heat.
(PNA/Xinhua)
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Lack of sleep linked to early death
Wed May 5, 9:44 am ET
LONDON (AFP) – People who get less than six hours sleep per night have an increased risk of dying prematurely, researchers said on Wednesday.
Those who slumbered for less than that amount of time were 12 percent more likely to die early, though researchers also found a link between sleeping more than nine hours and premature death.
"If you sleep little, you can develop diabetes, obesity, hypertension and high cholesterol," Francesco Cappuccio, who led research on the subject at Britain's University of Warwick, told AFP.
The study, conducted with the Federico II University in Naples, Italy, aggregated decade-long studies from around the world involving more than 1.3 million people and found "unequivocal evidence of the direct link" between lack of sleep and premature death.
"We think that the relation between little sleep and illness is due to a series of hormonal and metabolical mechanisms," Cappuccio said.
The findings of the study were published in the Sleep journal.
Cappuccio believes the duration of sleep is a public health issue and should be considered as a behavioural risk factor by doctors.
"Society pushes us to sleep less and less," Cappuccio said, adding that about 20 percent of the population in the United States and Britain sleeps less than five hours.
Sleeping less than six hours is "more common amongst full-time workers, suggesting that it may be due to societal pressures for longer working hours and more shift work"
The study also found a link between sleeping more than nine hours per night and premature death, but Cappuccio said oversleeping is more likely to be an effect of illness, rather than a cause.
"Doctors never ask how much one sleeps, but that could be an indicator that something is wrong," said Cappuccio, who heads the Sleep, Health and Society Programme at the University of Warwick.
Research showed no adverse effects for those sleeping between six and eight hours per day.
AFP
