Several regions of India recorded heat records in April, and this scorching wave is expected to continue into May before summer begins, according to the national meteorology department.
Temperatures of 35.9 ° C to 37.78 ° C were recorded in northwest and central India, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director general of the meteorology department (IMD), told reporters.
This is the highest temperature recorded since the department began recording 122 years ago. And the heat is expected to continue until early May. IMD predicts a gradual rise in maximum temperature of 2-4 ° C in most parts of northwest and central India this week, with little change thereafter.
India and Pakistan are experiencing an extraordinary heat wave this year, with a maximum of 50 ° C in the areas.
The heat is driving higher demand for electricity, leading to water shortages and blackouts in some states.
In India, coal reserves at power plants have actually fallen by almost 17% since the beginning of April, falling to almost a third of the required levels.
Yesterday, authorities estimated that there remained less than a day of coal there is stock in many power stations.
As a precaution, New Delhi has even canceled some passenger trains to speed up the delivery of coal to power plants, according to Bloomberg News.
The Prime Minister of New Dehlme, Arvind Kejriwal, warned of possible reductions in hospitals and meters of the capital, and spoke about a situation harmful for all over india. The heat wave has dramatically led to the closure of schools or reduction of class time in the state of Bihar.
The situation is hardly any better in Pakistan. Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan said the country was going through an “energy crisis”. Several Pakistani towns suffered up to eight hours of power outages a day last week, while rural areas lost half a day.
East India plagued by drought
The extreme heat is causing drought of an extraordinary scale in eastern India.
For two months, the state of Himachal Pradesh has not received a single drop of water, while rain, hail and even snow usually fall at this time of year.
” With no rain for more than 57 days, Calcutta is in the grip of the longest drought in this millennium. “
As a result, hundreds of fires have reduced pine forests to ashes, especially around Dharamsala, the city where the Dalai Lama lives.
Most of these fires are ground fires that spread to pine forests, the most vulnerable to fire. State Forestry Chief Ajay Srivastava told AFP.
Firefighters are trying to put out these fires and also to save wild animals. he added, specifying that emergency services would need to seek help from local residents.
Understanding and mitigating the impact of climate change
Heat waves are common in India, specifically in the central and northern parts of the country. They are usually felt in May and June, but they started earlier this year with high temperatures in March.
Naresh Kumar, senior scientist atIMDthis intense and early heat wave is attributed to local atmospheric factors, especially the presence of anticyclones (areas with high atmospheric pressure often associated with dry weather).
Other experts see a clear link between these heat events and climate change.
Roxy Mathew Koll, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, agree that local factors play a role in the heat wave plaguing the Indian subcontinent. According to him, the fact remains that climate change is the main reason such a phenomenon
Dr. Chandni Singh, Principal Investigator atIndian Institute for Human Settlements and lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), recalls that these effects are not felt by everyone in the same way.The poor have fewer resources to cool off and fewer options for staying indoors, away from the heat..
Many children in the countryside study in cages with tin roofs, which cannot withstand the heat.he describes.
Since 2015, the Indian government and state governments have implemented several measures to reduce the effects of heat waves, such as a ban on working outside during the hottest hours.
But these measures can only be fully effective if they are accompanied by far -reaching changes, such as building greener infrastructure, Singh said.
Our buildings are built in such a way that they get heat instead of providing ventilation. There are so many innovations at the international level that we can learn fromhe says.
We’re doing some things well, but it’s time to lift our game – because we have to live in the heat.
With information from the AFP, Reuters and BBC
Source: Radio-Canada