For the second month in a row, temperatures in India and Pakistan are unusually high due to a series of strong and prolonged heat waves – and now another rise is taking place. Temperatures have already skyrocketed to dangerously high levels. They exceeded 110 degrees in the Indian capital Delhi on Thursday and Friday, where the sidewalk melted in the middle of heat, while several cities broke the April records. The Times of India reported that Delhi recorded the second warmest April in 72 years on Friday with an average high temperature of 104 degrees (40.2 degrees Celsius). The Pakistani city of Nawabshah hit 117.5 degrees (47.5 degrees Celsius) on Thursday – the hottest temperature in the northern hemisphere so far this year. The heat wave has increased the risk of fire in recent days, threatened crop yields and even accelerated the melting of some glaciers. While this part of the world is no stranger to extreme heat, scientists say conditions have worsened due to climate change. “Heat waves are more common now and spread throughout the year,” said Amir Agha Kouchak, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, in an email. “This is the new normal and it will probably get worse in the future, unless we take serious action.” The Meteorological Department of India has been putting much of this nation on “heat watch” all weekend, with some sites like Madhya Pradesh in the center of the country being one step higher on a “heat alarm” by Saturday. Temperatures in this episode are expected to peak over the weekend, although the regime of hot temperatures in the subcontinent seems to be established, with little substantial relief. On Friday, more than 50 locations in India recorded temperatures of 111 degrees (44 degrees Celsius) or higher, including the huge capital of Delhi, where measurements rose to 115.1 degrees (46.2 degrees Celsius) in the sports complex. The official high of the city was 110.3 degrees (43.5 Celsius) on both Thursday and Friday, the highest point in April for the last 12 years. Gurgaon, just southwest of New Delhi, broke its April record on Thursday and again on Friday when it reached 114.6 degrees (45.9 degrees Celsius), breaking the previous record of 112.6 degrees (44.8 degrees Celsius). ) in 1979. Lucknow, the largest city in the northeastern state of Uttar Pradesh, surpassed 113 degrees (45.1 degrees Celsius), setting a new April record on Friday. April records were also set in the northeastern state of Uttar Pradesh, where the city of Banda reached 117.3 degrees (47.4 degrees Celsius) while Prayagraj reached 116 (46.8 degrees Celsius). More temperature records are expected to fall, as the heat may escalate further on Saturday and Sunday, with slight relief at night. According to Maximiliano Herrera, an expert on extreme weather in the world, the highest April temperature in India is 118.9 degrees (48.3 degrees Celsius), which was reached in Barmer in 1958. Nawabshah, Pakistan, about two hours inland from in the Arabian Sea, reached 122.4 points (50.2). Celsius) four years ago. It is possible that Pakistan will end up with the highest temperatures overall. Some locations north of the capital Karachi could reach 120 degrees (49 degrees Celsius) or higher over the weekend. The forecast for Jacobabad, known as one of the hottest cities on Earth, reaches 122 degrees (50 Celsius), something that could test significant records.
Power outages, fires and low yields The intense heat has caused significant power outages, which are characterized as the worst in recent years. Much of rural India does not have access to air conditioning. Unprecedented heat waves at the beginning of the season are causing major health concerns in a country accustomed to the dangers of hot weather. “The unfortunate reality is that the people who are most vulnerable are the ones who will be most affected,” said AghaKouchak. “Lack of access to air conditioning, which is more common in poor and underserved communities, significantly increases the likelihood of heat stroke and heat-related mortality.” Even without extreme heat waves, AghaKouchak found that only moderate increases in temperature could dramatically increase mortality rates. Over the past five decades, about 0.92 degrees (0.5 degrees Celsius) of heat has increased the chance of heat-related mortality of more than 100 people by 146 percent. Most of these dangers are due to the rising night temperature. AghaKouchak said temperatures usually tend to drop at night, giving our bodies a chance to cool down. Without this cooling, prolonged heat increases the risk of heat exhaustion, cramps, strokes and even death. “While we usually look at daytime extremes, nighttime temperatures are also very important to human health. “Night heat waves have also increased significantly in densely populated areas of India,” said Agha Kouchak. He and his colleagues had previously discovered that the hottest nights from 1981 to 2013 had warmed by 0.92 degrees (0.51 degrees Celsius) per decade. How climate change is making parts of the world too hot and humid to survive Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also said high temperatures had increased the risk of fires across the country. Only in recent days, satellites have detected a large increase in hot spots, especially in the north of the country. A fire at a landfill outside New Delhi has sparked toxic fumes, causing a nearby school to close on Tuesday. Relentless heat waves also affect the crop. Wheat arrivals are reported to be 20 percent below 2021 prices in parts of the country this year. The decrease is mainly due to the constant temperatures above 104 degrees (40 degrees Celsius) in Punjab – a country bread basket – during the growing season. The drop in yield is largely due to crops that have matured very quickly and the seeds have shrunk due to the early heat. It comes at a time when India was hoping to fill some of the gaps in the world market, such as those created by Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. There are also concerns that the heat wave is melting glaciers rapidly, which could lead to sudden flooding and river flooding, according to the Meteorological Department of Pakistan. While India is often exposed to extreme heat, research shows that the frequency, duration and intensity have increased as global temperatures rise. A February study found that human activity played a larger role than natural causes, stating that “anthropogenic factors have doubled the likelihood of severe heat waves in central and southern India during the twentieth century.” The risk of heat waves is projected to increase tenfold during the 21st century under some future climate change scenarios as well. “The extreme heat wave that is hitting India this week is coming over the 1 degree Celsius temperature the country has already experienced,” Zeke Hausfather, a climate researcher at Stripe, a global technology company, wrote on Twitter. . “In our current emission trajectory (SSP2-4.5) India is heating up to about 3.5 C by the end of the century.” It was hot over India and the heat is expected to continue, with serious consequences. A heat wave that would be rare without climate change, but is, like heat waves around the world, much more common now and will become more and more as we burn fossil fuels. pic.twitter.com/bE1O8wMMsQ – Dr Friederike Otto (@FrediOtto) April 26, 2022 Alternative high-pressure “heat domes”, such as the one insisted on in India in recent months, have been found to be more common and more intense than in the past. Similar record temperature adjustments occurred in the Northwest Pacific during 2021, including recent cases around the world. Temperatures tend to peak in India in April and May or just before the rainy season begins – a seasonal change of winds called monsoon -. The most cloudy and rainy monsoon conditions usually sweep north and west of the Indian Ocean in late May and early summer, lasting until early autumn. While readings are expected to drop somewhat after this weekend, there are signs of a resurgence thereafter.
