Extreme heat challenges survivability in India, Pakistan

Temperatures in areas of India and Pakistan have reached record levels in recent days, putting the lives of millions at risk from the effects of the climate crisis across the subcontinent.

According to weather forecast According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the average maximum temperature in northwest and central India in April reached the highest since data began to be recorded 122 years ago, respectively. 35.9 and 37.78 degrees Celsius.

According to CNN, last month, New Delhi saw seven consecutive days above 40 degrees Celsius, 3 degrees higher than the average temperature for April. In some states, the heat has closed schools, causing damage crops and put pressure on energy supplies.

According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) data, the heat wave has also been felt in the country, where the cities of Jacobabad and Sibi in the southeastern province of Sindh recorded a high of 47 degrees Celsius on Sunday. 29.4. According to 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 has experienced what many call a year without a spring,” Pakistan’s Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman said in a statement.

Temperatures in India are expected to improve slightly this week with maximum temperatures across northwest India expected to drop by 3 to 4 degrees Celsius. Pakistan are also forecast to be close to average – around 40 degrees Celsius – later this week.

However, experts say the climate crisis will cause more frequent and longer-lasting heat waves, affecting more than 1 billion people across the two countries.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), India is among the countries forecast to be hardest hit by the impact of the climate crisis.

“This heatwave is certainly unprecedented,” said Dr Chandni Singh, lead author and IPCC senior research fellow at the Indian Institute of Human Settlements.

“We’ve seen variation in heat intensity, duration and duration. This is what climate experts have predicted and it will have major health impacts,” he said. .

Lost season

India usually experiences heat waves during the summer months of May and June, but this year temperature start to increase in March and April.

In the state of Punjab – dubbed “India’s breadbasket” – the heat puts a strain not only on millions of farm workers, but also on the wheat fields they rely on to feed their families. and sold all over the country.

Gurvinder Singh, director of agriculture in Punjab, said an average temperature increase of up to 7 degrees Celsius in April had reduced wheat production. “Due to the heat wave, we lost more than 5 quintals per hectare of yield in April,” Singh told CNN.

Schools are closed and power is cut off

In some 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 stocks at three of the five power plants that New Delhi relies on for electricity fell to an extremely low level, below 25%, according to the Delhi Electricity Ministry.

A senior railway ministry official told CNN that India has canceled more than 650 passenger trains since the end of May to make way for more freight trains as the country tries to replenish its coal reserves. at power plants.

Indian Railways is a major supplier of coal to power plants across the country.

Several Indian states, including West Bengal and Odisha, have announced school closures in response to rising temperatures.

In recent years, both the federal and state governments have taken a number of measures to mitigate the impact of the heatwave, including closing schools and issuing health advice to the public.

But according to West Bengal Premier Chandni Singh, more needs to be done to prepare for future heat waves.

“This heat wave is testing the limits of human survival,” said Chandni Singh.