India and Pakistan suffocate under heat dome and pollution from fires

More than 10% of the world’s population has been affected by a vague of heat outsized, i.e. one billion people. The peak of intensity was reached last weekend with exceptional values ​​recorded: Pakistan recorded 49.5°C in Nawabshah and 49°C in Jacobabad. In India, the mercury rose to 47.2°C in Khanpur and Banda. For these two countries, this represents temperatures of 5 to 10°C above the averages of season. During the night from Sunday to Monday, the minimum temperatures remained excessively high: between 29 and 32°C.

Although these temperature records are impressive, it is more the duration of the event which is remarkable at the meteorological level: these scorching temperatures resisted for six weeks, from mid-March to early May. Remember that the month of March 2022 was the hottest recorded since the beginning of the records weather report, i.e. for 122 years. The nationally recorded average temperature in March stood at 33.1°C, beating the 32.7°C of March 2021. For northern and central India, the month of April 2022 also hottest summer on record. But nationally, it is the fourth hottest April on record since records began.

Nearly 8,000 fires in 3 days

This extreme heat, combined with extremely dry soils with a 72% deficit of precipitation in March, favored the outbreak of fires. Over 7,800 forest fires were reported in the space of three days late last week in areas of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Madhya, Pradesh and many others. The multiplication of fires and the loss of field crops have caused the wheat price since the end of March.

Nearly 300 fires considered “major” have ravaged natural areas, including the reserve of tigers Melghat, located in Amravati. Many fires would also have started in photovoltaic power plants. The heat was so intense that the facilities overheated and caught fire. Other fires broke out in open landfills in large cities, generating particularly harmful pollution.

A persistent heat dome in question

While most people in South Asia, India and Pakistan in particular, do not have access to air conditionerand mostly work outside, concern is growing for the next few weeks: the month of May is generally the hottest month of the year, just before the monsoon which begins in June. The persistence of the heat dome over these countries in March and April is probably partly linked to the La Niña climate phenomenon, which will persist until the end of the summer. La Niña, a cooling of the waters of the Pacific which has consequences for the climate world, is known to generate long warm periods, in a repetitive way, on India. Moreover, according to the IPCCsouthern Asia is the area most affected by the increase in heat waves linked to the global warming.

After a month and a half of heat wave, the phenomenon is coming to an end in the next few days: temperatures are already dropping by 3 to 5°C on Monday, and will drop back down to normal levels in the middle of the week. A further rise in temperatures is expected next week.

Heatwave in India: temperatures approaching 50°C for several days!

Article of Karine Durandpublished on April 25, 2022

After experiencing its hottest March on record, India is once again facing a heat wave that will continue until the end of the week, with extreme temperatures from the northwest of the country to Pakistan.

The month of March 2022 was indeed the hottest recorded since the beginning of weather records, i.e. for 122 years. The average temperature recorded at the national level over the month rose to 33.1°C, beating the 32.7°C of March 2021. These extremely hot conditions, with peaks over 40°C regularly observed, associated to a 72% rainfall deficit in March, favored the development offires early and exploded the price of corn. April continues in the same vein, with eight days already with temperatures above 40°C since the beginning of the month. Sunday, April 24, the indian meteorological service again recorded a temperature of 44°C in Banda (Uttar Pradesh) and 42.7°C in Barmer (Rajasthan).

40 to 49°C expected this week

In connection with a powerful anticyclone which traps a heat dome over the country all week, temperatures will rise again over the next five days: in Delhi, the mercury is expected to climb to 44°C, while the average for the month is generally 37 °C. The states of Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal and Gujarat will also be affected by temperatures above 40°C, i.e. temperatures 5 to 9°C above seasonal averages. In the extreme northwest of India, as well as on the side of Pakistanextreme heat spikes of 47°C or even 49°C are also possible.

India is one of the countries in the world where the frequency of heat waves has increased the most in 40 years: the indian meteorological service counted 413 days with temperatures above 40°C between 1981 and 1990, and 600 days between 2011 and 2020.