Relentless heat sparks surge in heat-related illnesses, livestock losses

The ongoing heat wave continues to take a toll on humans and livestock alike, with men, the elderly and manual laborers most affected, while poultry remains hardest hit among animals.

As of Sunday, South Korea reported nearly 2,300 heat-related illnesses and over 700,000 livestock deaths, data showed Tuesday.

According to the Interior Ministry, the cumulative number of heat-related illness cases had reached 2,293, with 21 deaths reported. This is the highest number since the record-breaking heat wave of 2018, when 3,841 such cases were reported by the end of summer.

This summer is being compared to that six years ago, as Seoul and much of the region continue to experience suffocating daytime temperatures around 33-35 degrees Celsius, made even more unbearable by high humidity. Seoul experienced its 22nd consecutive tropical night from Sunday night into Monday.

On Aug. 3 alone, 183 heat-related illness cases were recorded. Although the numbers have been trending down since then -- 120 on Aug. 4, 122 on Aug. 5, 93 on both Aug. 6 and Aug. 7, 72 on Thursday, 75 on Friday, 76 on Saturday and 53 on Sunday -- they still remain high compared to previous years.

The number of total accumulated heat-related illness cases stood at 1,455 in 2019, 478 in 2020, 1,279 in 2021, 1,358 in 2022 and 2,139 in 2023.

Of this summer’s heat victims, men accounted for 77.4 percent. By age group, those aged 65 and over took up the highest proportion at 32.1 percent. In terms of occupation, manual laborers made up 21.5 percent of the cases, followed by the unemployed at 13.9 percent.

More than half of the cases were heat exhaustion (54.6 percent), followed by heatstroke (21.6 percent) and heat cramps (13.5 percent).

The number of livestock deaths due to the heat wave has also increased, with 703,000 animals perishing in the relentless sweltering heat to Monday.

The most significant impact has been on poultry, particularly ducks and chickens. So far, 658,000 poultry have died, along with 45,000 pigs. As sea temperatures have risen, aquaculture facilities have reported losses of 895,000 fish, including species like flatfish.

For the time being, most regions across the country are expected to experience extremely hot weather, with maximum perceived temperatures around 35 degrees Celsius. Tropical nights are also likely to occur in many areas, particularly along the western coastal regions.

The Interior Ministry activated the first phase out of three at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on July 31, and raised the heat wave crisis alert from "warning" to "severe" in response to the ongoing situation.