The very high temperatures closed the schools in almost half of the capital of the Filipina on Monday, local officials said, since the dry storic station began in the tropical country of Southeast Asia.
A National Meteorological Service notice warned that the heat index, a measure of air temperature and relative humidity, reached “danger” levels in Manila and two other areas of the country.
“It is likely that heat cramps and heat exhaustion” at that level, said the notice, warning residents in the affected areas to avoid prolonged exposure to the sun.
A heat wave hit large areas of the Philippines in April and May last year, which led to almost daily class suspensions in person, affecting millions of students.
Manila temperature reached a record of 38.8 degrees Celsius (101.8 degrees Fahrenheit) on April 27 of last year.
Although temperatures were expected to reach 33 ° C on Monday, local governments in Manila and six other districts ordered the classrooms closed as caution.
The capital region has a student population of more than 2.8 million according to data from the Department of Education.
In the Malabon district of Manila, the official of the Department of Education Edgar Bonifacio said that the suspensions affected more than 68,000 students in 42 schools.
“We were surprised by the warning of the heat index,” Bonifacio said AFPadding: “We cannot feel the heat still outside.”
However, due to the protocols adopted during the heat wave last year, the school superintendent of the district recommended to suspend the classes in person.
“Our main concern is that we are close to the end of the school year (in mid -April),” said Bonifacio. “This would mean a reduction in the number of school days available.”
In the Valenzuela district, said the Annie Bernardo School official AFP Its 69 schools had received instructions to change to “alternative” learning models, including online classes.
The average global temperatures reached the records in 2024 and even briefly exceeded the critical heating threshold of 1.5 ° C.
In January, the UN Children’s Agency, UNICEF, said the extreme climate interrupted the schooling of about 242 million children in 85 countries last year, including the Philippines, with heat waves that had the greatest impact.
Human activity, including burning without restrictions on fossil fuels for decades, has heated the planet and has changed climatic patterns.
That has meant more humid wet periods and dry dryer periods, intensifying heat and storms and make populations more vulnerable to disasters.
