Closed schools, teleworking, slowing economy, travel reduced to the strict minimum… Does this bring back memories? In 2020, the world discovered confinement with cities with deserted streets and an atmosphere of the end of the world in the four corners of the planet. We were then in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, and all the countries had barricaded themselves for health reasons.
Four years and vaccines later, life has fortunately returned to normal even if the virus has never disappeared. In Asia, where the pandemic started and where containment measures have been among the strictest in the world, certain countries are nevertheless reliving the same or almost the same scenario in recent weeks.
Temperatures felt at 50°C
This time it is not linked to any virus but to the extreme heat wave which is hitting the continent. A sort of “climate confinement” therefore, even if the concept does not officially exist. In Thailand, for example, where temperatures have exceeded 50°C in recent days, the country’s schools have been asked to favor distance learning. Residents were asked to stay at home on April 24 as the heat index reached “the level considered extremely dangerous.”
Ditto in the Philippines or Bangladesh, where authorities closed schools for a few days last week due to stifling temperatures, forcing millions of children to stay at home.
A term unknown to the scientific community
In Southeast Asia, these high temperatures are of course usual in April and May, which are among the hottest months of the year. But the episode, accentuated by the El Niño phenomenon, is unprecedented this year, with temperature records falling like flies. And the worst is yet to come, according to the World Meteorological Organization: Asia is warming faster than the global average, with heat waves becoming “increasingly severe”. What suggests new “lockdowns” in these countries that are particularly vulnerable to global warming? And after Covid-19, repeated heat waves bring the planet to a standstill?
In the scientific community, this term “climate confinement” does not currently correspond to any reality. “I have never heard of it,” admits Françoise Vimeux, climatologist at the Research Institute for Development. It appeared in 2023 in conspiracy circles. Diverting comments made in 2020 during the World Economic Forum, some Internet users then raised the fear of future restrictions on freedoms in order to protect the planet. A fantasy which should not fail to resurface in view of the decisions taken by certain Asian countries.
“Common sense decisions”
But for Françoise Vimeux, “we play at scaring each other”. The climatologist also sees in these measures “rules of common sense” to “avoid the deleterious consequences of these heat waves on health”. And remember that in France, the college certificate exams in 2019 were postponed by four days because of the heatwave which was then hitting the country. “At each episode, the authorities issue recommendations, particularly for the most vulnerable, to adapt behavior,” she specifies. With success, moreover, since the number of deaths attributed to heatwaves has fallen sharply since the dramatic episode of 2003.
Physicist and climatologist, Marie-Antoinette Mélierès also believes that this term “climate confinement” is “not appropriate”. In the case of Thailand, the Philippines or Bangladesh, she rather welcomes “responsible decisions”, because “the authorities have the obligation to shelter populations” in the event of extreme danger. Even if it means slowing down the economy and making unpopular choices. “We are not going to put everyone under cover like during Covid-19,” she assures. But we will have to make it clear that we will have to reorganize the work in certain areas to avoid deaths, such as during the construction of football stadiums in Qatar.”
A necessary adaptation to climate change which of course also concerns France. And on this point, there is still a lot of work to do. In a report published in March, the Court of Auditors considers that the State has still not understood the issue and calls on it to carry out real “planning”. “We must prepare ourselves to know how to react to extreme events, and this must enter into everyone’s head,” assures Françoise Vimeux. Confinement or not, the future of the planet does not look very fun. And above all very hot.