Temperatures in parts of India and Pakistan have reached record levels, putting the lives of millions of people at risk as the effects of the climate crisis are felt across the subcontinent.
The average maximum temperature for northwest and central India in April was the highest since records began 122 years ago, reaching 35.9C and 37.78C respectively, according to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).
Last month, New Delhi saw seven consecutive days above 40C, three degrees above the average temperature for April, according to meteorologists from the CNN .
In some states, the heat has closed schools, damaged crops and strained power supplies as authorities warned residents to stay indoors and stay hydrated.
The heat wave was also felt by neighboring Pakistan, India, where the cities of Jacobabad and Sibi, in the southeastern province of Sindh, recorded highs of 47ºC on Friday (29), according to data shared with the CNN by the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).
According to the PMD, this was the highest temperature recorded in any city in the Northern Hemisphere that day.
“This is the first time in decades that Pakistan is experiencing what many call a ‘year without spring’,” Pakistan’s Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman said in a statement.
Temperatures in India are expected to drop this week, the IMD said, but experts say the climate crisis will cause more frequent and longer heat waves, affecting more than a billion people in both countries.
India is among the countries most affected by the impacts of the climate crisis, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
“This heat wave is definitely unprecedented,” said Chandni Singh, IPCC lead author and senior researcher at the Indian Institute of Human Settlements.
“We have seen a change in its intensity, its arrival time and duration. This is what climate experts have predicted and it will have cascading health impacts.”
crop loss
India often experiences heat waves during the summer months of May and June, but this year temperatures started to rise in March and April.
In the northern state of Punjab, known as the “breadbasket of India”, this is causing heat stress not only for millions of farm workers but also the wheat fields they depend on to feed their families and sell in All country.
Gurvinder Singh, director of agriculture in Punjab, said an average rise of up to 7°C in April reduced wheat yields.
“Because of the heat wave, we lost more than 5 quintals (500 kilograms) per hectare of our April yield,” Singh told CNN on Monday.
Chandni Singh, from the IPCC and not related to Gurvinder Singh, said farm workers are more likely to suffer from the oppressive heat.
“People who work outdoors — farmers, builders, manual workers — will suffer the most. They have fewer options for cooling off and can’t stay away from the heat,” she said.
School closures and power cuts
In parts of India, demand for electricity has led to coal shortages, leaving millions without power for up to nine hours a day.
Last week, coal inventories at three of the five power plants that Delhi relies on for its power hit critically low levels, falling below 25%, according to the Delhi Ministry of Energy.
India canceled more than 650 passenger trains through the end of May to clear track for more freight trains as the country struggles to replenish coal stocks at power plants, a senior official at the country’s Ministry of Railways told CNN .
Indian Railways is a major supplier of coal to power plants across the country.
Some Indian states, including West Bengal and Odisha, have announced school closures to deal with rising temperatures.
“Children who have to travel to school, many of them have nosebleeds, cannot take this heat wave,” West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters last week.
In recent years, the federal and state governments have implemented a number of measures to mitigate the effects of heat waves, including closing schools and issuing health alerts to the public.
But, according to Chandni Singh, more must be done to prepare for future heat waves.
“We don’t have a heat action plan and there are gaps in planning,” Singh said. “You can only adapt so far. This heat wave is testing the limits of human survivability.”
Source: CNN Brasil
