JOIN USMassive heat wave affecting people’s health, crops
The rattling and intense climate change-triggered heat wave in India - one of the worst in over a century’s time - is not only affecting the health but also would drop the crop yield.
Neighbouring Pakistan too is witnessing a massive heat wave.
India has suffered the hottest March in 122 years of weather data, and parts of the country are seeing wheat yields drop 10 to 35 per cent in part due to the unseasonal heat - as they try to make up the shortfall caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
An analysis by climate scientists has directly connected the heatwave in India and Pakistan - home to around one in five people on Earth - with climate change, according to research collated by Climate Trends.
Temperatures are forecasted to rise to 50 degree Celsius in Jacobabad, Pakistan, approaching the temperature record for the city - one of the hottest places on the planet. India’s capital, New Delhi, could reach 44-45 degree Celsius - approaching its record April temperature - while some parts of northern India could reach 46 degree Celsius. Heatwave warnings have been issued, with public health experts warning that extreme heat so early in the year is particularly dangerous
Dr Mariam Zachariah, Research Associate at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London, said, “The recent high temperatures in India were made more likely by climate change. Before human activities increased global temperatures, we would have seen the heat that hit India earlier this month around once in 50 years. But now it is a much more common event - we can expect such high temperatures about once in every four years. And until net emissions are halted, it will continue to become even more common.”
Dr Friederike Otto, Senior Lecturer in Climate Science at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London, said, “India's current heatwave has been made hotter by climate change that is the result of human activities like burning coal and other fossil fuels. This is now the case for every heatwave, everywhere in the world. Until net greenhouse gas emissions end, heatwaves in India and elsewhere will continue to become hotter and more dangerous.”
Dr Abjiyant Tiwari, Assistant Professor & Programme Manager, Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management, said: "While taking mitigation measures is a must to limit future warming, the extreme, frequent, and long-lasting spells of heat waves are no more a future risk. It is already here and is unavoidable.
Dr Dileep Mavalankar, Director, Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar (IIPHG) said: "The IMD is releasing forecast advisories for up to the next five days for 1000 cities in India. Ahmedabad is on an orange alert on all the days with temperatures ranging between 43-44 degree Celsius and this may increase further.”
The forecast temperatures are similar to those seen in the deadly heat waves that hit India and Pakistan in May/June 2015, which killed at least 4,500 people.
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