Heatstroke warnings and typhoon: the hottest games in history loom


Heat stroke warnings and typhoon
The hottest games in history are looming

Needed by David

The beach volleyball players are already fleeing from the hot and unplayable sand: Extreme temperatures and brutal humidity pose health problems for athletes in Tokyo. The Japanese government is warning of heat strokes – and a typhoon is on the way.

The decision seemed only logical and consistent. Due to the well-known enormous heat and the high humidity of around 80 percent in Tokyo in the summer after the rainy season, the organizers moved the Olympic Games to autumn. Primarily for the protection of the athletes. Because the weather in Japan in July and August already poses a health risk for people in everyday life, one did not even want to think about the danger of exhausting athletes. Well, that decision was actually made. However, before the 1964 Summer Olympics, they were relocated to the cooler and pleasant October.

This time, however, the Olympics will take place in the middle of the summer heat. Because July and August are considered the ideal time window for TV stations to report on the event. They are paying billions of euros and dollars for broadcast rights in those months when the global sports calendar is otherwise weak, which increases the chances of attracting larger audiences. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) around its President Thomas Bach was also not dissuaded from the summer plans for precisely this reason.

57 years after the 1964 Games, Tokyo has become an increasingly hot city amid the effects of global warming, especially in summer. This also increases heat-related health risks, especially at sporting events. Tokyo is one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world – and the effects of this vast urbanization are making the heat and humidity worse. Over the past year, the total number of people receiving a Heat illness suffered significantly in Tokyo and throughout Japan. In 2019, more than 71,000 people needed emergency care because of heat stroke, and 118 people died between June and September. Last year, when the pandemic resulted in fewer people on the move, there were still 65,000 registered heat strokes and 112 deaths.

“It’s incredibly hot here”

The Japanese government is also issuing a warning this summer, because the sun will burn relentlessly early in the morning. The agency for meteorology has set up a special warning system in the country with the levels “warning” (25 to 28 degrees Celsius – movement only with many pauses), “serious warning” (28 to 31 degrees Celsius – strong movement, which probably includes the Exercises by the Olympians include is prohibited) and “danger” (more than 31 degrees Celsius – any sport is prohibited). On Tuesday, Tokyo was in the “danger” zone for several hours, otherwise on the “serious warning” level. It should be in the coming days similarly hot and humid according to Wet-Bulb-Globe-Temperatur (WBGT), an index based on a combination of ambient temperature, relative humidity, heat exposure from solar radiation and cooling capacity from wind. At night the temperatures only drop to 24 degrees Celsius.

Heat sickness is caused by the combined effects of high temperature, high humidity, and exposure to the sun on the human body. All three factors will be extremely stressful and endangered for athletes in competitions in Tokyo that are held outdoors. Beach volleyball players who are currently training in the metropolis have already had to flee from the field. The sand was too hot for their feet and had to be hosed down with water while the athletes waited in the shade. “It’s incredibly hot here, between 30 and 40 degrees on the pitch,” complained Tobias Hauke, two-time Olympic hockey champion, to the SID.

Beach volleyball players have to suffer

Although the organizers have introduced measures such as cooling tents or haze fans to protect against the worst effects of the heat, these activities are unlikely to be sufficient. Because the weather hazard merges in an even more dangerous combination with the corona pandemic: athletes would actually need a lot of time on site to acclimate and get used to the heat. However, this is (was) hardly possible for many due to the corona rules and the fear of infection, the majority arrive at short notice. Acclimatization can be crucial in preventing heat illness as it increases tolerance to the high temperatures and adjusts the body’s sweating mechanism.

The outdoor competitions should ideally take place in the early morning, if possible before eight o’clock, or in the evening after six o’clock in order to minimize the dangerous sun exposure. However, the games in the beach volleyball group stage always start at 9 a.m. local time. Laura Ludwig and Margareta Kozuch have to play in the first game next Saturday at 3 p.m., Karla Borger and Julia Sude are two days later on the sand in the absolute midday heat at 12 p.m. After the first on-site session, Borger said of the heat: “That’s awesome. You pump very quickly.” In order to prepare for the extreme conditions, the Swiss beach volleyball players Joana Heidrich and Anouk Vergé-Dépré even trained in a heat chamber. The corona games, they will also be the heat, endurance and perseverance games.

Long before the pandemic forced Tokyo 2020 to be postponed, the brutal summer heat of the Japanese capital was the greatest health threat for the organizers. “Holding the games in July and August was a serious problem even before the coronavirus pandemic,” said Haruo Ozaki, chairman of the Tokyo Medical Association, recently. The organizers also knew that Tokyo’s “mild” summer weather, which was mentioned in the application for the games, does not exist. The marathon and walking competitions were therefore relocated to the cooler Sapporo, 800 kilometers north of Tokyo. “There is still a high risk of heat stroke at events like triathlons and beach volleyball,” warned Ozaki.

Humidity, heat, storms

But Japan also harbors other meteorological dangers than the scorching heat. These days he hits Storm “In-Fa” on Japan’s southern islands and Taiwan. It is forecast to develop into a typhoon on Wednesday night. The danger to Tokyo cannot yet be calculated. The organizers hope that it will not escalate like 2019 when three games at the Rugby World Cup had to be canceled due to the typhoon “Hagibis” and the qualifying of Formula 1 had to be postponed by one day, which cost the lives of more than 100 people caused great floods.

If “In-Fa” brings rain to the Japanese capital, this could mean a welcome cooling off on the one hand, and on the other hand drive the already extreme humidity even higher. Sun, heat or storms – the weather in Tokyo is extreme and has become more and more extreme since the 1964 Games because of climate change. At that time, the Olympics were postponed, even without Corona: Now not only the hottest, but the most dangerous games ever loom.

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