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According to the Indian Meteorological Department, the April average maximum temperature in northwest and central India was 35.9 degrees Celsius (96.62 degrees Fahrenheit), respectively.
According to CNN meteorologists New Delhi saw seven consecutive days with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 F) last month. That’s three degrees more than the average temperature in April. Some states saw heat close schools, damage crops, and put pressure on energy supplies. Officials warned residents to stay inside and to drink water.
India’s neighbor Pakistan has also felt the heatwave, with the cities of Jacobabad (in the country’s southern Sindh province) experiencing temperatures of 47 degrees Celsius (116.6 Fahrenheit), according to data shared by Pakistan’s Meteorological Division (PMD) with CNN. According to the PMD this was the highest temperature in any city in Northern Hemisphere on that date.
“This is the first time that Pakistan has experienced what many call a “spring-less year” in decades,” Sherry Rehman, Pakistan’s Minister for Climate Change, stated in a statement.
The IMD stated that temperatures in India will drop this week. However, experts believe that the climate crisis will lead to more heatwaves and longer periods of intense heatwaves that will affect more than a billion people in both countries.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, India is one of the countries most likely to be affected by the effects of the climate crisis.
“This heatwave was definitely unprecedented,” said Dr. Chandni, IPCC Lead Author, Senior Researcher at Indian Institute for Human Settlements. “We have witnessed a change in its intensity and duration. This is what climate experts predicted, and it will have ripple effects on health.
Crop losses
India experiences heatwaves in the summer months of May, June and July. However, this year temperatures rose in March and April.
The northern state of Punjab, also known as “India’s breadbasket”, is experiencing heat stress. This is affecting millions of farmers and the fields of wheat they rely upon to feed their families.
Gurvinder Singh (director of agriculture in Punjab) stated that wheat yields had been affected by an average increase in temperature of up to 7° Celsius (44.6° Fahrenheit).
Singh stated Monday to CNN that because of the heatwave, there has been a loss in yields of more than 5 quintals (500 kilograms) per hectare.
Chandni Singh, a member of the IPCC, and not related to Gurvinder Singh said that agricultural workers are more likely to be affected by the oppressive heat.
“People who work outside — farmers, construction workers, and manual laborers — will suffer more,” she said. They have fewer options to cool down and can’t stay away heat,” she said.
Schools closings and power outages
In some parts India, the demand for electricity has led a coal shortage, leaving millions without power up to nine hours per day.
According to Delhi’s Power Ministry last week, coal stocks at three power plants Delhi relies upon to supply its power fell below 25%.
India cancelled more than 650 passenger trains in May to make way for more cargo trains, as the country attempts to replenish its coal stocks at power plants. A senior official from India’s Railways Ministry told CNN.
Indian Railways is a key supplier for coal to power plants throughout the country.
Some Indian states, including West Bengal (and Odisha) have announced school closures in response to the rising temperatures.
Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal Chief Minister, stated that many children who have to travel to school are experiencing nosebleeds and can’t withstand this heatwave.
In recent years, both federal and state governments implemented a number measures to reduce heatwaves’ effects. These included closing schools and issuing health advisories to the general public.
Chandni Singh says that more needs to be done to prepare for heatwaves in the future.
Singh stated, “We don’t have a heat plan and there are gaps. “You can only adapt so far. This heatwave is testing our human survivability.
