so at last we know how the Egyptians must have felt like, when God mounted its continuous Plague upon the sinned land .
1. Unprecedented record heat-wave has over-come the Korean Peninsula from middle of last Month in July 2016, and continuing even today .
2. mistaken, wrong and erroneous weather forecast – where a common weather forecast was “Today would be hotter than yesterday”. some regions especially inland South-East went just over body heat . then forecasters convinced frustrated citizens “the heat will succumb to typhoons rising Northward from South of Japan” – but that has been coming every Week, to no end . while one of my own dream is to have computers like that of a forecasting station, the National Forecasting Agency imply current happenings defy all previous – or more correctly put : NO pattern and trends .
3. subway station an artificial sauna . South Korean transport system have developed much thus all have, and put on air conditioners like no other developed nation along the full course of their routes . this includes taxi, bus, subway and trains . with the influx of iPhones and smart-phones all is a snap, especially changing bus routs and reserving KTX bullet train seats . but the subway station are open through its entrances from ground level and more under ground, so are quite unbearable . thus I recommend you take either taxi or bus in the afternoons .
4. effect on consumer spending and tourism . it is too hot that people are refraining to go to the usual vacation spots like pools and amusement parks, and instead into movie theatres and super-marts . ofcourse out-bound travel has risen but in-bound tourism does not seem to have been much effected as the bulk are Chinese who are more accustomed to hot Summers .
5. No mosquitos ! although Official records announce this years mosquito appearance -16% than last year, it does feel and seem like more than four times that in reality – like, almost none at all . all ofcourse due to the fact that it doesn’t rain (at all aside from periodical showers) so no undisturbed waters to lay eggs on, and what eggs they have hatched simply dry-up on immense and prolonged heat //
6. cruelty on animals . imagine dogs in cages awaiting to be slaughter for their meat as food, in the still many dog-meat markets throughout the Peninsula like Moran, as Summer is the traditional Season for dog-consuming “to better your health” (one better news is that their market demand is reducing drastically as pets are on the rising curve, but again on a sadder note : many are abandoned at vacation spots, rising over 8000 in July eventually put to death if no new owners appear in 10 Days), plus bears stuck in concrete a few times their size with a needle stuck in their stomach to drain juices out . add the heat, while nothing is done by their owners or captors as usually cruel . all-the-while livestock has been dying-out including fish, chicken, pigs and cows – and to some growers : over half of their inventory . Live photos of dead fish floating on waters and birds fallen on Western tidal mud beaches from heat disease, resemble scenes told on the Bible of the great plague .
7. the sick and dead : humans . as of today August 21 Sunday 2016 : total seeking hospital for over-heat about 2 thousand, and 16 dead .
8. few accounts more of dead from indirect effect from heat . while the above were actually from unbearable hot weather, there were a few more mostly from ignorance : like a child left in the school mini-bus after the teacher and driver didn’t take count of who were on board and locked it, then parked it out under the hot sun and found 8 hours later . also a night-time delivery man who return home in the morning, who couldn’t bear the heat with no air conditioning in his room, went to his car and put on its air conditioning then went to sleep – eventually died when oxygen ran out .
9. No typhoon ! like any other region in the Far East (viewed from Western standards) the Korean Peninsula goes through about half a dozen storms called typhoons every Summer . but at the height of this Summer late August total number of typhoons that hit Korea is an amazing 0 . 8 typhoons have formed in the South Pacific Ocean this Summer so far, but those that have reached Korea have all dissipated along the enormous heat zone, gulp .
10.more-over the worry does not end, even if and when all this temperature goes down to normal, for South Korean electricity company inflicts over-charge when private sector use more energy than minimal amount, which they designated . this is how it is in a country that developed from a hungry, poor nation from the ashes of the Korean War – where the government stuck close with large conglomerate corporations .
– Korea Expat BLog –
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