[News Today] RECORD HIGH TROPICAL NIGHTS

[LEAD]
Yesterday marked 'Ipchu', the start of autumn according to the calendar, but the heatwave's intensity remains high. Overnight, the relentless heat led to a record-breaking average of tropical nights last month. We also saw numerous cases of heat-related illnesses.

[REPORT]
A steady stream of visitors walk into a palace lit up brightly.

They expected cool evening breeze but the midday heat still lingered.

Choi Jin-hyeok/ Nonsan resident
It's humid and there's no breeze. My family each has a fan because we keep sweating without one.

Korea has been experiencing heat waves day and night. The national average number of tropical nights last month set a record high of 8.8 days.

The average overnight low was the second highest on record.

The number of intensely hot days was about the same as in previous years, indicating that it was hotter during the night than during the day this year.

Tropical nights are expected to continue into next week even after tormenting Seoul and Gangneung residents since the start of this month, making it very likely for the August tropical night record to be broken as well.

The unprecedented hot nights have caused 20% of heat-related illness cases to occur between evening and morning hours.

Prof. Lee Hwan-hee/ Pusan National Univ.
People can go to heat shelters during the day but they are closed at night. People with weak heat control capabilities are more vulnerable to nighttime heat.

Experts note that people shouldn't let their guard down even when nighttime temperatures are below 25 degrees Celsius because their bodies are already exhausted from daytime heat.

Prof. Kim Ho/ Graduate School of Public Health, SNU
It's been detected that the death rate has increased even at 22℃ or 23℃. That means it's epidemiologically necessary to set the tropical night criteria lower than the current 25℃ to lower the death rate.

Some experts also argue that the current heat alert system should be revised to consider both day's high and low temperatures.