The heat wave in India and Pakistan in the last two months is unprecedented. However, a study published this week says residents of the region will face more severe heat waves in the future.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
More than 100 crore people in India and Pakistan had to endure extreme heat in March and April. In many places the temperature has exceeded 40 degrees Celsius.
But the hottest time of the year has not started yet.
“Thousands of people could die in the heatwave in the future,” said Robert Rode, chief researcher at Berkeley Earth. ‘
According to the Indian Ministry of Geology, the death toll from heatwaves in the country has risen by more than 60 percent since the 1970s. Air quality has deteriorated, and large areas are at risk of severe fires. In addition, there is a risk of power outages if the temperature rises further. But these are not the end. New research from Science Advances says the situation could get worse. The study was led by Vicky Thompson of the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.
Researchers have listed the world’s most severe heat waves since the 1980’s. They compared how hot it was supposed to be and how hot it actually was.
Surprisingly, India and Pakistan are not on the list. In this context, Thompson said, “Considering the deviation of local normalcy, the heat wave between India and Pakistan has not reached that extreme yet. ‘
Southeast Asia has gone through the worst kind of heat in the last six decades. It happened in 1998. Thompson added, “In India, an equivalent heat wave would mean more than 50 degrees Celsius over large areas of the country.”
