According to the toxicologist, global warming may have consequences that we cannot even imagine.
The heatwave has been raging in Hungary for days, and according to some forecasts, the heat may reach 42 degrees on Tuesday. The heat alarm was also ordered by the authorities some time ago, III. and the level alert was extended until Thursday of this week. Gábor Zacher, toxicologist, emergency physician, university associate doctor, drew the attention of the readers of Mandiner to
that during this period, people simply cannot relax, they are distracted, disturbed, tense, and more aggressive.
Gábor Zacher warns: heat exhaustion can happen very quickly
For example, their personal experience shows that, unlike the usual patient traffic, on Monday, they had to treat twice as many patients in twenty-four hours. And the reason behind this - the specialist continued - was that the patients run out of supplies, they are tired, exhausted, and very quickly reach the phenomenon of heat exhaustion.
When we stay at a temperature relatively higher than our body temperature, we cannot evaporate properly, we do not sufficiently replace the lost liquid, especially not the various minerals."
The solution to this can be, among other things, the intake of various isotonic liquids, but the advice that has been voiced several times before is also valid: do not stay in the hot sun, use sunscreen, etc.
But the emergency doctor noted that you also need to pay attention to food - of course, the general lack of appetite is typical in this heatwave -; it is obvious that we are not living in the period of "knuckle tripe" , rather it is recommended to consume cold fruit juices, vegetables and fruits, or drink hot tea.
Special attention should also be paid to heat protection for the older age group - Zacher also pointed out - who do not drink enough fluids for various, profane reasons. About a third of their patients were so dehydrated the other day that "you could light a match on their tongue" .
"We, the emergency providers, have practically reached the limit of our ability to perform"
- said the specialist, pointing out that not only people are exposed to such great stress, but also technical devices. The air conditioners stop working, the elevators don't work - and these really hinder work: in their case, patient care.
Zacher hopes that everyone will now believe that global warming is not a hoax
"This country was not set up for these heat waves and heat alerts," he added, expressing his hope that the past week or so may have made us realize that global warming is not a hoax, but a real problem that lives with us.
That's why Zacher couldn't help stressing that global warming can have consequences that we can't even imagine.
Here, for example, is the depletion of the planet's supplies; the daily change in extreme weather conditions - according to him, six centimeters of precipitation fell in twenty minutes at his place of residence even during the previous heat alarm; or the legitimate fear of what kind of viruses and microscopic fungal toxins can now melt from either the northern or the southern ice sheets, which could have wiped out a significant part of the Earth's fauna in the past.
So, in addition to the diseases we have known so far, a potential danger may be hidden in the ice sheets, which are significantly affected by global warming."
