![Searing summer has put Myanmar under extreme conditions, with the temperature in Yangon on 26 April reaching a new record high of 42C [Lynn Bo Bo/EPA-EFE]](https://eng.mizzima.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/83260b6e860641dda7240408fba8b463_18.jpg)
Searing summer has put Myanmar under extreme conditions, with the temperature in Yangon on 26 April reaching a new record high of 42C [Lynn Bo Bo/EPA-EFE]
Mizzima
Extreme weather events are exacerbating the ongoing junta-caused humanitarian crisis facing Myanmar’s people, according to campaign group Progressive Voice.
It says that unprecedented heatwaves and record-breaking temperatures in Myanmar over the past few weeks vividly demonstrate that the climate emergency is no longer a future threat but a present daily reality, unleashing profound and escalating impacts on the people.
Last week, the people of Myanmar found themselves grappling with extreme weather. Six regions, Magwe, Yangon, Mandalay, Bago, Sagaing, and Ayeyarwaddy, experienced an unprecedented heatwave over the past few weeks. Chauk Township in the Magwe Region made headlines with its scorching temperatures, topping the list of the 15 hottest cities in the world with a recorded high of 47.1 degrees Celsius.
Myanmar’s vulnerability to extreme weather events was starkly highlighted in the 2021 Global Climate Risk Index, where it ranked second most affected by weather-related events, out of 183 countries. Just two years later, on 14 May 2023, Cyclone Mocha struck Myanmar, tearing through Rakhine, Chin, and Kachin States, and Sagaing, and Magwe Regions, severely damaging homes and affecting 1.5 million people.
The storm reportedly killed over 455 people, the majority of whom were Rohingya living in precarious settlements within large internment camps lacking adequate disaster preparedness. To make matters worse, the junta has routinely blocked access to humanitarian aid.
Progressive Voice says that all of Myanmar is suffering the tangible effects of climate change and the population, finding itself caught in the crosshairs of the military junta’s violence, suffers the devastating consequences of these double threats.
Internally displaced persons (IDPs) are enduring the worst problems. Following the coup, the military junta’s ruthless “scorched earth” campaign, particularly in central Myanmar—a dry zone where resistance remains steadfast—has forced villagers to repeatedly flee, transforming them into protracted displaced persons unable to return to their homes and heavily dependent on aid, according to Progressive Voice.
In the soaring temperatures, IDPs in Myanmar live in makeshift shelters that provide little relief from the intense heat and cause them daily hardships.
Their struggles are exacerbated by the lack of water, which is a recurring experience every hot season. Scarce water and poor sanitation lead to more diseases and infections in IDPs, including water-borne illnesses.
In Chauk Township, Magwe Region, where temperatures reached unprecedented heights of 47.1 degrees Celsius, residents battled a multitude of heat-related illnesses, from dizziness and headaches to chickenpox and prickly heat, with some tragically dying.
Meanwhile, in Mon State, IDPs seeking safety at village monasteries have also had to confront water shortages, according to Progressive Voice. In Mawlamyine Township, Mon State, over 1,500 IDPs have sought refuge in 21 monasteries, while in Chaungzon Township, more than 1,000 IDPs are sheltering in 10 monasteries.
At each monastery, the dense population crammed into a single building exacerbates the already intense heat, creating unbearable living conditions, especially for children and elderly people. Compounding this, movement restrictions by the junta intensify the plight of the displaced, denying them access to essential humanitarian aid and safe shelters in heat-resilient structures, says Progressive Voice.
It believes that it is crucial to remember that extreme weather events and disasters are not simply natural occurrences; they are the direct consequences of human actions, particularly rooted in excessive carbon emissions from multinational corporations and rapacious exploitation of natural resources without adequate restoration and rehabilitation efforts.
In Myanmar, the convergence of a global profit-driven economy and a historical legacy of natural resource extraction, dating back to colonial times and further exacerbated by the enormous greed of military elites, has led to the relentless destruction of the country’s forests, mountains, other natural resources, and endangered species.
While industrialized nations, alongside a small Myanmar military elite and their cronies, have amassed huge wealth from the extraction of Myanmar’s natural resources, the failure of the international community to fulfill its commitment to limit carbon dioxide emissions and prevent global warming from exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius is evident in the recent record-breaking heatwaves that have gripped Asia, Europe, and North America, according to Progressive Voice.
It says that this highlights the irresponsibility of wealthy nations driven solely by economic interests, pushing humanity perilously closer to environmental collapse.
Yet, Progressive Voice believes that hope reverberates within indigenous communities. In Myanmar, many forests and other biodiverse areas thrive within the territories of indigenous and ethnic peoples, who persistently advocate for recognition of their right to self-determination, and practice reverence for their land, practices, and the environment.
As the people of Myanmar work towards building a new federal democratic country, Progressive Voice says it is crucial that the international business community ceases doing business with the illegal military junta because their business not only allows finances to flow to the military, but also inflicts severe harm on Myanmar’s ecosystem, damaging the future of young generations to come.
Instead, the international community must lend comprehensive and synergistic support to federal units, grassroots groups, indigenous organisations, and civil society organisations in their efforts towards the transition and rebuilding of Myanmar.
Progressive Voice believes that a fundamental step towards justice and equitable solutions can be taken by including Myanmar’s legitimate representatives at international climate change summits., because they truly represent the people’s aspirations, will, and interests.
It must be recognised that Myanmar will continue to face increasingly extreme weather events in the years to come, so, climate policy and disaster response, management, and preparedness must be placed at the center of building a new federal democratic Myanmar.
In the meantime, Progressive Voice says that the international community must step up and increase humanitarian aid for the IDPs, and work in tandem with local humanitarian responders, to ensure that IDPs who are suffering from the devastating impacts of the climate emergency on top of the military’s ongoing violence, receive aid in an effective and timely way through cross-border channels.
