These countries, which are among the hottest in the world, are facing another violent heatwave after months of unseasonably hot weather. A taste of what mankind awaits.
After particularly severe heat waves in 2010, 2015, 2019 and 2021, the blast furnace hit India and Pakistan again. Both countries are on heat alert. On Wednesday, the thermometer in Nawabshah in Pakistan reached 47.5°C, Météo France confirms on twitter. Weather services expect 46°C this Thursday in the Indian capital New Delhi in the north of the country. In the city of 30 million inhabitants, the nights stay hot, over 27°C.
The temperature could approach 50C along the border between the two countries in the coming days. “More than a billion people will experience excessive heat,” meteorologist Scott Duncan warned on Twitter. We were able to approach the national record in India with 51°C in 2016 and in neighboring Pakistan with 53.50°C in 2010.
The unrelenting and punishing heatwave in Pakistan and India is reaching the next level.
Unfortunately, this is just the beginning. Over 1 billion people will endure the excessive heat. The map has shaded where we expect to see over 40°C (104°F).
Some reach 50 °C (122 °F). pic.twitter.com/YLRHwpe4mO
— Scott Duncan (@ScottDuncanWX) April 26, 2022
Southeast Asia is currently in the middle of summer, awaiting the arrival of the June monsoon to cool the scorching atmosphere. India and Pakistan are particularly famous for their blast furnaces. April and May are the hottest months of the year, with temperatures often reaching 40°C. It is estimated that in these countries the heat wave will rage when temperatures approach or exceed 45°C. This is currently the case.
But that’s not all. Days above the seasonal norm are relentlessly piling up. For a month, the city of Nawabshah in Pakistan has not had a single day without 42°C. India also had its hottest March in 122 years. Since then, the drought has set in for a long period of time. The current scorching temperatures are expected to persist for at least five more days in the north-west, east and center of the country, according to the latest bulletin from India’s weather agency.
Uninhabitable regions of the future
The World Meteorological Organization recalls this on twitter that this extreme event “affects the health of millions of people, animals and plants” and that “action plans are essential to save lives”. Tensions could also arise over access to water, as happened in New Delhi last year. Since 2010, intense heat waves have claimed the lives of more than 6,500 people in the second most populous country on earth. That’s just the beginning, scientists warn.
“Heat waves have become more common everywhere, including there. Due to climate change, the frequency has increased in recent years. And we can now reach temperatures that were very rare on Earth fifteen years ago,” points out Fabio D’Andrea, CNRS researcher at the Laboratory of Dynamic Meteorology at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris.
For the past decade, India’s meteorological department has recorded a heatwave almost every year. “Climate change, which is taking us to even warmer temperatures, could make regions completely uninhabitable,” continues Fabio d’Andrea, particularly in the region of the Persian Gulf, Pakistan and northern India.
The “wet bulb” effect
In particular, the “wet bulb” effect, a scientifically little known term. The combination of heat and high humidity is particularly deadly. The Met Office as well as NASA have been investigating the issue. When the air is saturated with moisture, people can no longer sweat to cool themselves down. A situation that cannot be endured for more than a few hours. The air in India is currently quite dry but the situation needs to be monitored, especially in the coastal regions.
Scientists are certain: this phenomenon will increase and spread in the future with global warming. The February IPCC report indicates that by the year 2100, if humanity does not drastically reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, up to “three-quarters of the human population could experience periods of climatic conditions that, due to the combined effects, are life-threatening could be extreme heat and humidity”.