In a study published from Paris, climate change experts have expressed concern that India and Pakistan have been gripped by a devastating heat wave for the past two months, which is unusual but climate change is accelerating. The situation may be worse than that.
The report, quoted by the foreign news agency AFP, said the study, published this week, showed that even without a rise in global temperatures, there is a risk of a major California-style earthquake in South Asia.
Extreme heat in March and April in India and neighboring Pakistan caused more than a billion people to experience scorching heat of 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) while the hottest days of the year are yet to come.
Robert Rohde, a senior scientist at Berkeley Earth, a non-profit environmental research organization, tweeted that the heat wave could kill thousands.
This is a good example of how accurate, factual information can sometimes mislead people who lack the right framework for understanding it.
— Dr. Robert Rohde (@RARohde) May 2, 2022
There is a serious heatwave in India & Pakistan, but the depicted land surface temperatures can be 10°C (18°F) or more hotter than the air. https://t.co/mSXKWfFvaz
The number of additional deaths could be higher, especially in middle-aged people, which would be obvious.
According to the Indian Ministry of Earth Sciences, heat-related deaths in India have increased by more than 60% since 1980.
"We are already seeing effects in agricultural production, water, energy supplies and other areas," said Petrie Talas, chief of the World Environment Organization.
He said air quality had deteriorated and large parts of the land were at high risk of fire.
The blackout came after a record rise in demand last week, a sign of the dangers of a further rise in temperature.
This is not surprising to environmental scientists.
Camilo Mora, a professor at the University of Hawaii in the United States, said: "I find it unpredictable that most people are surprised, even though we have been aware of the dangers of disasters for so long.
This region of the world and most of the tropical regions may be affected by the heat wave.
New situation
Mora stated in Benchmark Analysis 2017 that almost half of the world's population will have to endure deadly heat for 20 days or more each year until 2100, even if global temperatures are kept below 2 degrees Celsius, according to the Paris Agreement. The main target is set. The land surface temperatures, as seen by satellites, are different from the air temperatures.
Just as asphalt or sand can get very hot in the sun, so can the land.
Traditional weather reports measure air temperature in the shade and have been 40-50 °C (105-120 °F). pic.twitter.com/iuBzbYMcji
Frederick Otto, head of the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London, questioned the extent to which climate change could be attributed to global warming, which is now improving in India and Pakistan.
"We are still working to find out how intense this particular heat wave could be and what the chances are," he added.
He added that as far as extreme heat is concerned, there is no doubt that climate change will be a big game changer.
He said that the heat we are seeing now, if not reduced, it will be normal in the world of 2 degrees and 3 degrees Celsius.
The current temperature of the Earth is on average 1.1 degrees Celsius higher than the pre-industrial level.
Even if the promise made in the Paris Agreement to reduce the national carbon is fulfilled, the world will still warm by more than 2.8 degrees.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in a recent landmark report that extreme heat waves in India and Pakistan have been shown to be likely to occur with longer durations and frequency.
Marian Zack Raya, a researcher at Imperial College London, said: "Before global warming due to human activities, we saw extreme heat in India once in 50 years.
He said higher temperatures are now expected to occur once every four years, while rising global temperatures would cause more intense heat in the coming decades.
Sun-like heat inside the body
The situation could worsen very quickly, according to a new study by Science Advances.
A team from the University of Bristol, led by Vicky Thompson, has rated the world's heat waves since 1960, but their benchmark was not how high the temperature was, but how hot it was.
Surprisingly, South Asia tops the list.
"We define it in terms of how different the temperature was at the local level, not all the heat waves were so intense in India and Pakistan so far," Thompson explained.
According to this measure, intense heat waves of 6 decades were recorded in Southeast Asia in 1998.
Thomson said the equivalent heat wave in India meant temperatures could exceed 50 degrees Celsius in most parts of the country.
Statistically, there is a possibility of severe heat wave in India at any time. Extreme heat can be more deadly when high temperature is accompanied by humidity like heat.
When the body is overheated, the heart speeds up and sends blood to the skin where sweat cools it, but this natural cooling system stops working because of the heat and moisture.
A damp bulb temperature of 35 degrees Celsius WB can kill a healthy adult within 6 hours. Last week, 32.2 WB was recorded for a short time in Nagpur, India.
"In response to just one degree Celsius, we are seeing extreme heat waves, floods, storms and droughts," said Roxy Matthew Cole, an environmental scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology.
"It's hard for me to imagine the effects of a doubling of global temperatures," he said.
