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LOCAL Saturday 18 May 2024

Global temperature is rising

Be mindful of the current heat wave this week!

Various international media outlets are raising from Monash University, Australia, and his team.
alarms about a heat wave occurring in the Ca-
ribbean, where the heat index could reach up In this study, researchers used data from the
to 50 degrees Celsius. This poses a significant Multi-Country Multi-City Collaborative Research
risk to those working or engaging in outdoor ac- Network (MCC), which included daily mortal-
tivities. ity and temperature records from 750 locations
in 43 countries. During the warm seasons from
In response, the minister of Nature and Elderly 1990 to 2019, excess deaths related to heat
Affairs of Aruba, Ursell Arends, has issued a press waves accounted for 153,078 deaths per year,
release especially directed at the elderly, warn- totaling 236 deaths per ten billion inhabitants,
ing them about the dangers of heat waves. or 1% of global deaths.
“As Minister of Nature, I recognize that climate
change is a reality,” stated Minister Arends, not- Asia and Europe are the continents with the
ing that the United Nations has confirmed that The goal of the meeting was to collaborate with highest number of deaths per million inhabit-
2023 has broken all global records for high tem- all relevant agencies to develop an action and ants, with the highest mortality rates from heat
peratures, marking the 10th consecutive year cooperation plan. “All those involved in caring waves recorded in arid climate regions.
of temperature increases. for the elderly must work together to assess the
risks and prepare a plan to mitigate them.” Heat waves, or periods of extremely high tem-
Although the government cannot change peratures lasting several days, can cause ther-
global temperatures, every effort must be Research on the internet has found data indi- mal stress on the human body, leading to seri-
made to mitigate the impact on the most vul- cating that between 1999 and 2019, more than ous health risks, particularly for the elderly. It is for
nerable. For this reason, Minister Arends called 150,000 deaths worldwide were related to heat this reason that we advise our visitors to always
an emergency meeting with various agencies waves each year, according to a recent study carry and wear sunscreen, drink plenty of water
that in one way or another serve the elderly. published in PLOS Medicine by Yuming Guo and stay in the shade whenever possible.q

Aruba Tourism Authority honored a loyal visitor at the Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort!

The Aruba Tourism Authority recently had the The honorees were: On behalf of the Aruba Tourism Authority, we
great pleasure of recognizing a Distinguished would like to express our sincere gratitude and
Visitor of Aruba. The honorees were respective- Distinguished Visitors appreciation to the honorees for their contin-
ly honored with a certificate for their years of Mr. Timothy & Mrs. Kathleen Blackburn from ued visits to the “One Happy Island” q
visits, loyalty, and love for the island of Aruba. Plainfield Illinois, United States.

The honorary certification is presented on be- Mr. Jorgino Willems representing the Aruba Tour-
half of the Minister of Tourism as a token of ap- ism Authority, and staff members of the Bucuti
preciation and to say “Masha Danki” to guests & Tara Beach Resort bestowed the certificate
who have visited Aruba 10, 20, or 35 years or upon the honorees, presented them with gifts,
more consecutively. and thanked them for choosing Aruba as their
favorite vacation destination, as their home
The three levels of honor are as follows: away from home.

Distinguished Visitor (10>years consecutively vis- The top reasons for returning to Aruba provided
iting Aruba) by the honorees were:
Goodwill Ambassador (20>years consecutively • Aruba’s people
visiting Aruba) • Aruba’s drinkable water.
Emerald Ambassador (35>years consecutively • Aruba’s weather.
visiting Aruba) • “Amazing place to relax”.
• Aruba’s constant sunshine.