Latest news with #HaiderAbbas
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Climate
- Hindustan Times
Iraq announces nationwide power outage as heatwave sends temperature soaring to 50°C
Power was out across Iraq on Monday as scorching summer temperatures pushed electricity grid demand to unprecedented levels, authorities said. An Iraqi man fans his son at his home south of Hilla city amidst rising temperatures, chronic water shortages and power cuts.(AFP) The outage came amid a heatwave that Iraqi meteorological services expect to last more than a week, with temperatures climbing as high as 50C in parts of the country. Mitigating the grid interruption was the fact that most households rely on private generators, acquired to compensate for daily power cuts to public electricity. The electricity ministry said the grid suffered a "total outage" after two transmission lines were shut down "due to a record rise in temperatures, increased consumer demand, and increased electrical load in the provinces of Babylon and Karbala, which are experiencing an influx of millions of pilgrims" for a major Shiite Muslim religious commemoration. The shutdown caused "a sudden and accidental loss of more than 6,000 megawatts on the grid", the ministry added, with power plants also halting operations. "Our teams are currently mobilised on the ground to gradually restore the grid over the next few hours," the ministry said. The northern Kurdistan region was spared. The autonomous territory has worked to modernise its power sector and was able to provide round-the-clock state electricity to a third of its population. Authorities later announced that power was being restored in stages in the southern provinces of Dhi Qar and Maysan, with the strategic port city of Basra expected to have electricity back by dawn on Tuesday. Electricity shortages are a frequent complaint in Iraq, which is sometimes rocked by protests when outages worsen in the hot summer months. - 'More intense' - Heatwaves in Iraq are "more intense and more frequent" than they were in the 20th century, meteorological service spokesman Amer al-Jaberi told AFP, blaming climate change and human factors. He said gas emissions and fumes from private generators "contribute to the rise in temperatures", and called for the creation of a "green belt" around Baghdad "so the city can breathe a little". In July 2023, a fire at a transmission station in the south caused a widespread power outage. While the vast majority of Iraqis rely on private generators, they often cannot power all household appliances, especially air conditioners. Even without a nationwide blackout, Iraq's poorest endure the intense heat daily. "It's hot, we don't have electricity, it comes on for two hours and then we can sleep a little and rest," said Haider Abbas, a 44-year-old day labourer, in his concrete-walled home on Sunday. Originally from the town of Al-Qassim in Babylon province, central Iraq, the father of five cannot afford an air conditioner and relies instead on an air cooler that he constantly refills with water bottles. "When I was little, we didn't have these (high) temperatures," he recalled. "At 52 degrees Celsius, I can't work." To avoid outages during peak demand, Iraq would need to produce around 55,000 megawatts of electricity. This month, for the first time, the country's power plants reached the 28,000-megawatt threshold.
GMA Network
4 days ago
- Climate
- GMA Network
Iraq announces nationwide power outage amid 'record' heat
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Power was out across Iraq on Monday as scorching summer temperatures pushed electricity grid demand to unprecedented levels, authorities said. The outage came amid a heatwave that Iraqi meteorological services expect to last more than a week, with temperatures climbing as high as 50C in parts of the country. Mitigating the grid interruption was the fact that most households rely on private generators, acquired to compensate for daily power cuts to public electricity. The electricity ministry said the grid suffered a "total outage" after two transmission lines were shut down "due to a record rise in temperatures, increased consumer demand, and increased electrical load in the provinces of Babylon and Karbala, which are experiencing an influx of millions of pilgrims" for a major Shiite Muslim religious commemoration. The shutdown caused "a sudden and accidental loss of more than 6,000 megawatts on the grid", the ministry added, with power plants also halting operations. "Our teams are currently mobilised on the ground to gradually restore the grid over the next few hours," the ministry said. The northern Kurdistan region was spared. The autonomous territory has worked to modernise its power sector and was able to provide round-the-clock state electricity to a third of its population. Authorities later announced that power was being restored in stages in the southern provinces of Dhi Qar and Maysan, with the strategic port city of Basra expected to have electricity back by dawn on Tuesday. Electricity shortages are a frequent complaint in Iraq, which is sometimes rocked by protests when outages worsen in the hot summer months. 'More intense' Heatwaves in Iraq are "more intense and more frequent" than they were in the 20th century, meteorological service spokesman Amer al-Jaberi told AFP, blaming climate change and human factors. He said gas emissions and fumes from private generators "contribute to the rise in temperatures", and called for the creation of a "green belt" around Baghdad "so the city can breathe a little". In July 2023, a fire at a transmission station in the south caused a widespread power outage. While the vast majority of Iraqis rely on private generators, they often cannot power all household appliances, especially air conditioners. Even without a nationwide blackout, Iraq's poorest endure the intense heat daily. "It's hot, we don't have electricity, it comes on for two hours and then we can sleep a little and rest," said Haider Abbas, a 44-year-old day labourer, in his concrete-walled home on Sunday. Originally from the town of Al-Qassim in Babylon province, central Iraq, the father of five cannot afford an air conditioner and relies instead on an air cooler that he constantly refills with water bottles. "When I was little, we didn't have these (high) temperatures," he recalled. "At 52 degrees Celsius, I can't work." To avoid outages during peak demand, Iraq would need to produce around 55,000 megawatts of electricity. This month, for the first time, the country's power plants reached the 28,000-megawatt threshold. — Agence France-Presse
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Iraq announces nationwide power outage amid 'record' heat
Power was out across Iraq on Monday as scorching summer temperatures pushed electricity grid demand to unprecedented levels, authorities said. The outage came amid a heatwave that Iraqi meteorological services expect to last more than a week, with temperatures climbing as high as 50C in parts of the country. Mitigating the grid interruption was the fact that most households rely on private generators, acquired to compensate for daily power cuts to public electricity. The electricity ministry said the grid suffered a "total outage" after two transmission lines were shut down "due to a record rise in temperatures, increased consumer demand, and increased electrical load in the provinces of Babylon and Karbala, which are experiencing an influx of millions of pilgrims" for a major Shiite Muslim religious commemoration. The shutdown caused "a sudden and accidental loss of more than 6,000 megawatts on the grid", the ministry added, with power plants also halting operations. "Our teams are currently mobilised on the ground to gradually restore the grid over the next few hours," the ministry said. The northern Kurdistan region was spared. The autonomous territory has worked to modernise its power sector and was able to provide round-the-clock state electricity to a third of its population. Authorities later announced that power was being restored in stages in the southern provinces of Dhi Qar and Maysan, with the strategic port city of Basra expected to have electricity back by dawn on Tuesday. Electricity shortages are a frequent complaint in Iraq, which is sometimes rocked by protests when outages worsen in the hot summer months. - 'More intense' - Heatwaves in Iraq are "more intense and more frequent" than they were in the 20th century, meteorological service spokesman Amer al-Jaberi told AFP, blaming climate change and human factors. He said gas emissions and fumes from private generators "contribute to the rise in temperatures", and called for the creation of a "green belt" around Baghdad "so the city can breathe a little". In July 2023, a fire at a transmission station in the south caused a widespread power outage. While the vast majority of Iraqis rely on private generators, they often cannot power all household appliances, especially air conditioners. Even without a nationwide blackout, Iraq's poorest endure the intense heat daily. "It's hot, we don't have electricity, it comes on for two hours and then we can sleep a little and rest," said Haider Abbas, a 44-year-old day labourer, in his concrete-walled home on Sunday. Originally from the town of Al-Qassim in Babylon province, central Iraq, the father of five cannot afford an air conditioner and relies instead on an air cooler that he constantly refills with water bottles. "When I was little, we didn't have these (high) temperatures," he recalled. "At 52 degrees Celsius, I can't work." To avoid outages during peak demand, Iraq would need to produce around 55,000 megawatts of electricity. This month, for the first time, the country's power plants reached the 28,000-megawatt threshold. tgg/ysm/rmb
Int'l Business Times
4 days ago
- Climate
- Int'l Business Times
Iraq Announces Nationwide Power Outage Amid 'Record' Heat
Power was out across Iraq on Monday as scorching summer temperatures pushed electricity grid demand to unprecedented levels, authorities said. The outage came amid a heatwave that Iraqi meteorological services expect to last more than a week, with temperatures climbing as high as 50C in parts of the country. Mitigating the grid interruption was the fact that most households rely on private generators, acquired to compensate for daily power cuts to public electricity. The electricity ministry said the grid suffered a "total outage" after two transmission lines were shut down "due to a record rise in temperatures, increased consumer demand, and increased electrical load in the provinces of Babylon and Karbala, which are experiencing an influx of millions of pilgrims" for a major Shiite Muslim religious commemoration. The shutdown caused "a sudden and accidental loss of more than 6,000 megawatts on the grid", the ministry added, with power plants also halting operations. "Our teams are currently mobilised on the ground to gradually restore the grid over the next few hours," the ministry said. The northern Kurdistan region was spared. The autonomous territory has worked to modernise its power sector and was able to provide round-the-clock state electricity to a third of its population. Authorities later announced that power was being restored in stages in the southern provinces of Dhi Qar and Maysan, with the strategic port city of Basra expected to have electricity back by dawn on Tuesday. Electricity shortages are a frequent complaint in Iraq, which is sometimes rocked by protests when outages worsen in the hot summer months. Heatwaves in Iraq are "more intense and more frequent" than they were in the 20th century, meteorological service spokesman Amer al-Jaberi told AFP, blaming climate change and human factors. He said gas emissions and fumes from private generators "contribute to the rise in temperatures", and called for the creation of a "green belt" around Baghdad "so the city can breathe a little". In July 2023, a fire at a transmission station in the south caused a widespread power outage. While the vast majority of Iraqis rely on private generators, they often cannot power all household appliances, especially air conditioners. Even without a nationwide blackout, Iraq's poorest endure the intense heat daily. "It's hot, we don't have electricity, it comes on for two hours and then we can sleep a little and rest," said Haider Abbas, a 44-year-old day labourer, in his concrete-walled home on Sunday. Originally from the town of Al-Qassim in Babylon province, central Iraq, the father of five cannot afford an air conditioner and relies instead on an air cooler that he constantly refills with water bottles. "When I was little, we didn't have these (high) temperatures," he recalled. "At 52 degrees Celsius, I can't work." To avoid outages during peak demand, Iraq would need to produce around 55,000 megawatts of electricity. This month, for the first time, the country's power plants reached the 28,000-megawatt threshold.
Time of India
27-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Experts advocate basic life support training in schools
Lucknow: Identifying symptoms in emergency patients and providing timely, accurate treatment can save hundreds of lives. To support this, basic life support (BLS) training should be introduced into school and college curriculum. This was emphasised by head of the KGMU's department of emergency medicine, Prof Haider Abbas during an awareness programme at Shatabdi Building to mark World Emergency Medicine Day on Tuesday. Dr Abbas emphasised that timely treatment is crucial for road accident victims, but many patients do not receive it in time due to a lack of awareness. He stressed that lives can be saved in emergency situations by administering CPR promptly. Prof Ahsan Khaliq Siddiqui said, "With the upcoming rainy season, we see a surge in snakebite cases, especially in rural and flood-prone areas. If someone is bitten by a snake, it is vital not to panic. Staying calm helps slow the spread of venom through the body. The person should be kept still, the affected limb immobilised, and immediate medical attention should be sought." Prof Mukesh Kumar from department of emergency medicine, said, "It is essential that medical personnel receive training in the latest techniques and protocols."
