India and Pakistan are about to break temperature records

An unusually early heat wave has already led to maximum temperatures exceeding 40 degrees in northwest India. March was the warmest month in 122 years, according to Indian Meteorological Department, IMD.

Temperatures are expected to rise further in the coming days in both India and Pakistan.

“Unfortunately for the Indians and Pakistanis,” the climate scientist wrote, “the extreme temperature is not over, it’s only going to get worse.” Maximiliano Herrerawhich documents severe weather around the world, on Twitter.

In Pakistan, the temperature is expected to rise to 48-49 degrees. In Jacobabad in Sindh province, the temperature could drop to around 50 degrees when the heat peaks on Friday or Saturday, according to the forecast. Temperatures in parts of India range between 46-47 degrees. In many places the temperature is five degrees above normal for the season.

Both India and Pakistan could come close to the highest ratings so far for April – 48.3 for India and 50.2 for Pakistan.

In the capital, New Delhi With more than 20 million inhabitants, the temperature has been between 41 and 43 degrees in recent days. At night at least 25 degrees.

It’s incredibly hot. I’m tired all the time. I sleep partly poorly, and partly feel sleepy from the heat. I really have to take the plunge to get out, says Suniti Virani on the phone from New Delhi, like I’m in an oven that can’t be turned off.

She works in a beauty salon and has just returned home in south Delhi around 8pm. The journey from work takes more than an hour.

– The subway is air conditioned, so this part of the trip is fine, but continuing in the autorickshaw (three wheeled taxi) is awful. When I get home, I take a cold shower. I usually read in the evening, but now it’s hard to focus. Suniti Virani says the brain is not working normally.

The simple family apartment has ceiling fans in both the rooms and the kitchen, but no air conditioning.

– The worst thing is that this is just the beginning. The real heat usually comes from April to May, before the monsoon begins.

Since the beginning of March Delhi received only 0.25 mm of rain. The average for March and April is 28.9 mm. Dryness leads to condensation of heat, as dry air is easier to heat up.

Rainfall across the country was 71 percent lower for March 2022 than average. IMD reported that rainfall in India this year was the third lowest since 1901 during the month.

According to experts, extremely high temperatures are a combination of natural variability and the effects of human-caused climate change. R Krishnan, senior climate researcher at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, says to DW Although these heat waves were previously observed, they are now more intense and last longer.

A heat wave means that the temperature rises in an area for a few days and then returns to normal. But what we’ve seen in recent years is that heat waves have increased in frequency and intensity, says R Krishnan.

Two years ago, IMD’s Department of Earth Sciences published a report that showed an average temperature increase of 0.7 degrees since the beginning of the 20th century. If India fails to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the number of annual heat waves is expected to triple by the end of the century. The report also warns that the number of hot nights during the year (when the temperature does not fall below 23 degrees) is expected to rise by 70 percent.

The United Nations Climate Panel has issued similar warningsr to increase the number of severe heat waves and periods of drought.

the changes In the wake of the climate crisis, India is becoming more and more noticeable, according to Jayanta Sarkar, head of the Meteorological Institute in Bombay, India’s largest city.

For the people of Bombay, tropical storms and major floods are important consequences of a warmer climate. This is due to the temperature change in the Arabian Sea. He tells DN.

In addition to several heat waves, Bombay experienced another unusual weather phenomenon this year, when sandstorms from Afghanistan and Pakistan blew over the city.

Read more: More people are getting a warmer air conditioner in India – and this is exacerbating the climate crisis