In Delhi, where spring usually offers a short spell of mild temperatures, thermometers have risen past 40˚C in April – “up to 5˚C above the seasonal average” – according to a report by ClimaMeter, a platform that tracks extreme weather events.
“Human-driven climate change” is to blame for the “dangerous” kind of heat seen in recent weeks, it said.
Temperatures in Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, hit 44˚C, triggering heatstroke reports among construction workers and farmers. Other states are also grappling with intense heat.
Pakistan is also reeling. In the city of Shaheed Benazirabad in Sindh province, the mercury has soared to 50˚C – nearly 8.5˚C above the April average. In other parts of the country, temperatures have hovered in the high 40s.
“What was once considered rare has become alarmingly common, as climate change accelerates the frequency and severity of such events,” said an editorial in the Pakistani newspaper Dawn. The country “remains woefully unprepared for the escalating climate crisis”, it said.
“These spring heatwaves are not anomalies. They’re signals. We need to move beyond awareness into action,” said Gianmarco Mengaldo, a climate expert at the National University of Singapore and co-author of the report.
South Asia is not alone. “In the northern hemisphere spring months, we are already seeing conditions in parts of the Middle East that are incompatible with human life,” said Mengaldo.
“This is very serious for the populations … we also expect summer temperatures in Spain and France to reach unprecedented levels in the next few years,” he said. “Many of the events predicted for 2050 or 2070 are already happening. We underestimated the speed of change. What we’re seeing now is an acceleration – a failure of our predictive models.”
David Faranda, a senior climate scientist with the French National Centre for Scientific Research and co-author of the report, said: “The only sustainable solution is to stop burning fossil fuels and reduce emissions. Without drastically reducing emissions and building climate resilience through better insulation, use of green energy, and other moves, the implications are alarming.”