The furnace in the middle of April. An extreme heat wave hit parts of India and Pakistan on Thursday, April 28, with temperatures above 46°C in several cities in these two countries, which are home to nearly 20% of the world’s population. . VSThis extreme heat wave is expected to rage for another five days in northwestern and central India and until the end of the week in the east, according to the Indian meteorological department. Franceinfo takes stock of this new manifestation of global warming.
1What are the temperatures recorded?
On April 29, in India, it was up to 47.4°C in Banda, in the north of the country, and 46.2°C in New Delhi, the capital, according to Indian Meteorological Department records*. “It’s so hot, it’s unbearable. Normally, in March-April, it’s mild, it’s spring, it’s the months of May-June-July which are very hot. There, it’s already very heavy , look how I sweat”testifies on France 2 Deepak Kumar, pulling his cart through the streets of New Delhi.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen such heat in April”exclaimed to AFP Dara Singh, 65, who has run a small street shop in Delhi since 1978. “The betel leaves that I use to sell paan [tabac à chiquer] spoil faster than usual. Usually this happens around May, at the height of summer.”. Already in March, Delhi experienced a high of 40.1°C, the hottest temperature on record for that month since 1946.
Neighboring Pakistan is also experiencing this extreme heat. In Dadu, in the south of the country, the thermometer rose to 47.5°C on Thursday, a record for the month of April. It was 47°C in Jacobabad and 46°C in Khairpur, in the same region of Sindh, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Office*. “Temperatures in some parts of the country are 5 to 7°C above seasonal norms”reported on Friday the same service*. Also according to the same source, the month of March was the hottest on record since 1961.
2Is it linked to global warming?
Heat waves are one of the most glaring manifestations of climate change that we know of, as the IPCC reminded us in its latest report. Since the 1950s, heat spikes have become more frequent and intense, driven by human-induced climate change.
“Climate change makes high temperatures in India more likely”confirms to AFP Mariam Zachariah, scientist at Imperial College London and author of an as yet unpublished analysis of the current heat wave. “Before human activities increased global temperatures, heat like the one that hit India earlier this month would have only been observed about once every fifty years.adds the expert. We can now expect such high temperatures about once every four years.“
For her colleague Friederike Otto, co-author of the latest IPCC report, “Heat waves in India and elsewhere will continue to get hotter and more dangerous, until net greenhouse gas emissions end”these gases produced when we use fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) to move, heat or feed us.
3What are the consequences of heat waves?
There is as yet no human toll on this heat peak. But these extreme heat waves kill. In May-June 2015, a comparable episode caused the death of 3,500 people in India and 1,100 in Pakistan, recalls the encyclopedia Britannica*. According to AFP, heat waves have killed more than 6,500 people in India since 2010. In Calcutta, in eastern India, after serial malaise in public transport, sugar water has was distributed to passengers.
In New Delhi, the heat causes another public health problem. Landfills, like that of Bhalswa, ignite spontaneously, dispersing their toxic fumes towards homes. Three other fires broke out in less than a month in the largest landfill in the capital, Ghazipur, a gigantic mountain of waste 65 meters high. In Pakistan, the meteorological office* warns of a risk of flash flooding, caused by the sudden rupture of a glacier.
To protect themselves from the heat, those who can afford it turn on their air conditioners. But the use of the latter is causing electricity consumption to explode, causing rationing and power cuts in northwestern Indian Rajasthan, western Gujarat and southern Andhra Pradesh. “The situation across India is dire”according to Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of Delhi, quoted by AFP. In Pakistan, pSeveral towns and cities suffered up to eight hours of power cuts per day last week, while rural areas suffered power cuts for half the day.
These consumption peaks plunge these countries into a veritable vicious circle: in India, 83% of electricity* is produced by burning coal (55%) and oil (28%). In Pakistan, it is 86%* with gas (43%), oil (25%) and coal (18%). Fossil fuels that emit greenhouse gases, further aggravating global warming.
*All links marked with an asterisk are in English.