‘It is hard enough for people; how much worse must it be for animals?’···How is the downtown of ‘Daefrica’ groaning under the heat wave?

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A thermometer installed in the second-floor hallway of a cubicle-room building in Bukseong-ro 1-ga, Jung District, Daegu reads 34.7 degrees. Baek Kyung-yeol

“It is this hard for people; how much worse must it be for animals that cannot speak?”

On the 28th, Joo Jae-min, 42, who has been raising cattle alongside wildflowers for seven years in Nongong-eup, Dalseong County, Daegu, spoke in a weary voice. As the recent heat wave has intensified, he starts his day about three hours earlier than usual. Yet his routine consists only of feeding the cattle, watering the wildflowers, and pulling weeds.

Because of the heat wave, wildflower propagation work such as division has been put on hold. The cattle have lost their appetite. Their feed intake is down by about 30 to 40% compared with normal.

He said, “It varies by species of wildflower, but some varieties have died off completely. Since this year is exceptionally hot and humid, many varieties seem to be under stress,” adding, “It keeps getting hotter, so when summer approaches, I feel dread first.”

Downtown Daegu was filled with hot, humid air, evoking a stifling cauldron. Around 1:30 p.m., when reporters visited Dongseong-ro in Jung District, the number of people on the move was noticeably lower than usual. However, underground shopping areas in Dongseong-ro and Banwoldang were crowded with people seeking refuge from the heat.

Mr. Park, who runs a clothing shop, said, “There are definitely fewer passersby than usual. Thanks to people mostly in their teens and twenties still moving around, I cannot go so far as to close the shop,” adding, “In weather like this, simply stepping out onto the street seems to require courage.”

The jjokbang village area in downtown Daegu was deserted. A proprietor in a jjokbang cluster in Bukseong-ro 1-ga, Jung District, said, “Among jjokbang residents, there are virtually none who stay in their rooms during the daytime,” adding, “With outdoor and indoor temperatures nearly the same and even the fans blowing only hot air, it is unbearable.”

Indeed, around 1 p.m. that day, the second-floor corridor temperature was 34.7 degrees, higher than outside at 34 degrees. In Daegu, an extreme heat warning was issued at 1:10 p.m. The day before, a high-level heat wave warning had been in effect.

Dongseong-ro in Jung District, Daegu, around 1:30 p.m. on the 28th. Baek Kyung-yeol

Daegu is so hot that it is nicknamed ‘Daefrica’ (Daegu+Africa), with some of the fiercest heat in the country. In addition, the period of heat waves has recently been starting earlier and lasting longer.

Daegu had the highest annual average number of ‘heat wave days’ (days with a daily high of 33 degrees or above) in the nation at 27.0 days for the normal period from 1991 to 2020. In particular, from 2016 through last year, the average was 36.7 days, about ten days more than the norm.

This year is likely to set a new record. According to the Daegu Regional Office of the Korea Meteorological Administration, in 1994, which had the most heat wave days on record at 60, the first heat wave was observed on June 16, whereas this year it was recorded on May 16, a month earlier.

It is also four days earlier than last year, which ranked second with 54 days. The number of ‘tropical nights’ (nights with a minimum temperature of 25 degrees or above) has also increased over the past decade to 20.8 days, compared with the normal 17.4 days.

Electricity and water use are also rising. According to the Daegu branch of Korea Electric Power Corporation and others, this summer’s regional peak power demand (hourly average) reached 6831㎿ (megawatts) at 8 p.m. on the 23rd, approaching last year’s peak of 6892㎿. The maximum daily domestic water consumption tallied so far this year was about 830,000ｔ (on July 14), similar to last year’s maximum.

Farms in North Gyeongsang Province are running cooling systems such as large fans and misting equipment, yet livestock deaths continue. As of the 27th, 75,283 head had died from the heat in North Gyeongsang: 5,400 pigs and 69,883 chickens. Last year as well, 160,878 head (28,367 pigs and 132,511 chickens) died.

Son Hujin, head of the Daegu North Gyeongsang chapter of the Layer Hen Association, said, “A heat wave unlike anything we have ever experienced,” adding, “Farms are using every measure available, from installing shade nets to supplying electrolyte substitutes and vitamins, but it is still not enough to prevent deaths.”

He, who has raised layer hens for over twenty years in Hyeonpung-eup, Dalseong County, Daegu, said that recently the mortality rate has surged and the laying rate has declined, especially at local layer farms.

Son said, “Just three days ago, 100 chickens were dying in a day; two days ago it was 300, and this morning about 500 died. The pace of deaths is far too fast compared with normal times of around 50,” adding, “Feed intake has also fallen, and the laying rate has dropped by more than 10%. All I can do is hope that many survive until fall.”

Lee Gyu-su, the head of Bakgok 1-ri in Seongsam-myeon, Goryeong County, North Gyeongsang (64), said, “During the daytime we repeatedly broadcast announcements urging seniors not to go out to the fields and, if possible, to gather at the village hall,” adding, “At midday, foot traffic in the village drops off so sharply that you wonder whether people really live here.”

He added, “Whenever residents gather, they say in unison, ‘I have never felt heat like this in my life.’ These days, checking on how people are doing has become my daily task.”

Daegu City and North Gyeongsang Province are operating emergency response systems in preparation for a prolonged heat wave and are moving to protect vulnerable groups such as seniors and jjokbang residents. They are also making every effort to prevent heat-related illness at construction sites and elsewhere. Daegu City is requiring that work at public procurement construction sites, such as metropolitan roads, be carried out only from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.