Many Indian women will choose to wear saris to beat the heat, which are breezy and light but also preserve the wearer’s modesty - hadynyah

 

From Mauritania to Pakistan, This Is How the World Stays Cool in a Heatwave
By Telegraph Writers

Pakistan: Stay inside, Behind Screened Windows
Ben Farmer, Islamabad

It was in the first brutally hot summer that I spent living in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, that I noticed a subtle reversal in language.

When people mentioned upcoming good weather, they were not talking about a hot sunny day as they might in the UK. Instead, good weather was cold and wet.

When the temperature relentlessly hovers around 40C during June, it is easy to understand why. Behavior is different, too. In the bright heat of the day, parks are not rammed as they are in Britain, but instead they are deserted. People stay inside where possible, in gloomy houses where windows are heavily screened to increase

Fans or air conditioning help for those that can afford the electricity bill. It is as the heat drops that parks and streets start to fill. They are packed late into the evening with playing children and promenading adults.

In the southern city of Jacobabad the heat and humidity are considered so extreme that at times they have passed a threshold beyond which human life can survive. The poor rely on solar power and cheap batteries to power fans that can literally save lives.

 

Kenya: Let out the heat

Will Brown, Nairobi

While Nairobi is only a few hours’ drive from the equator, we’re also about 1800m above sea level, almost twice the height of Mount Snowdon. We have the best of both worlds most of the time – a sort of perpetual perfect English summer’s day.

But for about three months, the east African metropolis of five million people feels a bit like Manchester in early spring – miserably cold and endlessly grey. On the Nairobi streets, the ubiquitous askari (security guards) dress up in balaclavas and woolly hats to get through the cold nights.

Senegal, on the other end of Africa, is perhaps closer to what the UK is going through now. Dakar, the humdrum Senegalese capital, is surrounded by the Atlantic on four sides. As humanity rolls off the water from September to October, the Senegalese capital hits a wet bulb temperature of 40 to 45C.

My partner and I learned to embrace dropping sweat during the long summer months. With electricity bills sky high, not moving from midday to 6pm and drinking copious amounts of water was always the best option. Everyone would make slow and deliberate movements, confident in the knowledge that city life would restart on the streets when the sun set.

 

Taiwan: Umbrellas for a Hot Day – And Watch out for Snakes

By Nicola Smith, Taipei

It’s not unusual here to see busy city streets full of bright umbrellas on a sunny summer’s day. As summer temperatures soar for weeks in the mid to late 30C – often with more than 50 per cent humidity – Taiwan’s sweltering citizens put up their umbrellas to cool down while walking and to protect their skin from the sun’s rays.

Women, especially, are often seen wearing long sleeves, summer gloves, and wide-rimmed hats.

Taiwan’s weather bureau issued a heat warning on Monday after the daily maximum temperature reached 38C for three consecutive days in the capital, Taipei. The temperature highs force people to exercise early in the morning or late in the evening, but otherwise life goes on as normal.

Schools, offices, shops, public transport all remain functioning, aided by air conditioning and fans. Many buildings and most cars also have tinted windows to block the heat and the glare of sunshine.

Cockroaches are unfortunately more visible in the summer months, scurrying along the hot pavements between drains. Snakes also make an appearance. I was working in my office two summers ago when some movement caught my eye. Outside in the garden, a 5-foot rattlesnake slowly slithered past the front door.

India: Mango Paste Baths and No Skinny Jeans

By Joe Wallen, Mumbai

Tropical  India  is no stranger to heatwaves and March this year was the hottest on record. Crops wilted, hospitals set ablaze and the school year ended early to protect students from heatstroke, as temperatures exceeded 40C in early spring and continued to rise.

Many cost-effective local remedies have emerged. Mangoes, which grow abundantly in India, are rich in polyphenols, a chemical which helps to moisturize dry skin and reverse sun-induced damage, and their paste is commonly applied on the skin during a heatwave.

Other popular traditional remedies in India include consuming the amla fruit, which in its raw form helps to lower the body’s temperature, wheatgrass, which protects against heat rashes, and coconut juice, which is packed full of electrolytes and works wonders against dehydration.

Stripping off is not recommended in conservative India, particularly for women. Many will choose to wear saris to beat the heat, which are breezy and light but also preserve the wearer’s modesty. Indian men will often opt for loose, white cotton shirts and trousers – unlike in London, skinny jeans aren’t too popular.

These clothing norms won’t stop many Indians from taking a dip when it gets very hot, though. It is not uncommon to see whole families jumping in lakes, rivers or large water tanks, particularly in rural, agricultural areas.

USA: A Diet of Smoothies, Juice and Ice Cream

By Ali Reiff, Austin, Texas

It’s been 102 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) for six weeks now – last week there was a high of 108 degrees (42 degrees Celsius). We’re so used to it, it’s business as usual. Everywhere is air conditioned, schools don’t close early and people don’t really adjust their working hours. You couldn’t really live here in summer without air con. People just cope in the day to day rather than making big changes.

My first piece of advice would be to wear as little and as light clothing as possible and appropriate. Yesterday I was wearing linen full length dungarees and immediately regretted my decision. I went home to change into shorts.

When summer comes, my friends and I joke that all we eat are smoothies – it feels too hot to eat anything warm. Otherwise, it’s juice and ice cream. People are pretty used to the heat, and restaurants and bars have fans and misters outside. We just plan around the heat – we go out at eight when the sun’s gone down, rather than meeting for happy hour at five when it’s boiling, or you meet up near water or somewhere you can cool off.

Mauritania: Don’t Walk – ever!

By Alexa Hanna, Nouakchott

As an expat with children in Mauritania, I live my life during daylight time and haven’t really adapted to the fact that the city comes alive at night because of the heat. The temperature in Nouakchott, the coastal capital of Mauritania, usually sits between 25 and 45 degrees and the climate is really hot all year round. Everything is air-conditioned and you don’t walk anywhere, ever.

My kids have to go to school from 8am to 1pm whatever the weather’s doing – even in massive sandstorms. Most children siesta. Mine refuse to, which is most annoying. Sand will keep us inside more than heat – in a sandstorm, you just have to stay inside.

The national dress is a malafa, which is loose, brightly colored fabric that’s wrapped to cover the head right down to the toes. For men it’s an outfit called a boubou, which is almost like a floor-to-neck open drape, and a headscarf, which can also be wrapped over your nose and mouth in a sandstorm. I’m slightly ridiculous because I still wear jeans and a shirt. – The Telegraph