Hotter Than Ever
The year 2023 was recorded as the hottest year in recorded human history. Following that, January 2024 set a new record as the hottest January ever recorded with a temperature of 13.14°C. As February 2024 comes to an end, it seems that this month will also have record temperatures.
With February, global temperature records will have been broken for 9 months in a row. If you want more detailed information on these topics, you can read our articles, Climate Records Make 2023 the Hottest Year Ever and Record-High Temperature in January 2024.
As we leave the winter season behind, these records may make us wonder how the upcoming summer will be. A small clue is that we think it will be hotter than 2023. Let’s take a closer look at the problems caused by heatwaves during the summer and how to prevent these problems.
The Effects of Heatwaves on Industries
Renewable Energy and Energy Distribution
Heatwaves can have a significant impact on energy production and distribution. During extreme heat, electricity grids can be strained, leading to distribution cuts. Solar panels experience significant efficiency losses in extreme heat, leading to a decrease in energy production.
Solar energy is vulnerable to changes in water sources and precipitation caused by heatwaves or droughts. Solar power plants are often located in dry areas and use water-intensive wet cooling systems to operate effectively.
During heatwaves, wind speeds and precipitation decrease, leading to a decrease in production at wind energy and hydroelectric power plants. The increased demand for energy used for cooling during extreme heat makes it even more challenging for electricity distribution companies.
Logistics
The logistics sector currently moves approximately $700 billion worth of goods worldwide annually. Operational problems in such a large sector can cause serious issues. During heatwaves, tires and road surfaces can reach very high temperatures, affecting tire performance negatively.
High temperatures that can cause engine failures require reducing the vehicle’s driving speed, which affects the expected delivery time. The increase in pressure caused by hot weather directly affects fuel consumption and can even lead to unwanted accidents. In cold chain transportation, heatwaves can increase your energy costs for cooling the products.
Retail Services
Retail services, which are currently experiencing their golden age of demand, can suffer from any kind of extreme weather event. While extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall and strong winds are generally thought to affect operational processes and team safety, heatwaves also have the same negative effects.
Consumers tend to stay indoors when the weather is very hot, increasing demand. If not managed properly, this can lead to inevitable negative customer reviews. Heatwaves can pose a health risk to courier employees, from heat stroke to changes in tire pressure.
Railways
Railways are the most efficient, safest, and lowest-cost asset transportation systems in the world. However, this does not mean they are resistant to hot weather conditions. With high temperatures, the expansion of iron can render railways unusable. Some parts of the train can also be negatively affected by high temperatures.
When this happens, train operators slow down the trains and apply less pressure on the rails to prevent rail collapse. Slowing down trains leads to delays in delivery times, directly affecting customer satisfaction.
Protect Your Business Against Heatwaves with Buluttan Weather Intelligence
Buluttan Weather Intelligence allows you to access reliable and timely meteorological information for your business with high-accuracy and high-resolution hyper-local weather forecasts. With models that can reach up to 100m resolution, you can be safer than ever against unexpected weather events.
With Buluttan API, you can have the meteorological parameters you need provided to you at regular intervals. You can also verify a past extreme weather event for damaged insured products.
With the Buluttan SkyWatch, while managing logistics operations, your micro logistics operation personnel can access a web-based and mobile-compatible severe weather control panel. With this panel, they can observe weather risks at a hyper-local scale in real-time, understand where, when, and how severe the risks will be, monitor real-time radar images, and adjust their operations accordingly to prevent future extreme weather events.
With the Buluttan Map Layer, you can notify both your drivers and dispatchers of weather risks on the road in real-time and develop proactive approaches against them in logistics operations.
