The devastating heatwave that gripped India and Pakistan over the last two months is unprecedented, but far worse is on the horizon as climate change continues apace, top climate scientists said.
“This heatwave is likely to kill thousands,” tweeted Robert Rohde, lead scientist at Berkeley Earth, a climate science research non-profit.
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
— Dr. Robert Rohde (@RARohde) May 2, 2022
Even without additional global warming South Asia is, statistically speaking, ripe for a “big one” in the same way that California is said to be overdue for a major earthquake, according to research published this week.
Extreme heat across much of India and Pakistan in March and April exposed more than a billion people to scorching temperatures well above 40 Celsius. The hottest part of the year is yet to come.
Source: Dawn News
