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A12 SCIENCE
Tuesday 24 May 2022

South Asia’s intense heat wave a ‘sign

of things to come’

in 1901 and April was the
warmest on record in Paki-
stan and parts of India. The
effects have been cascad-
ing and widespread: A gla-
cier burst in Pakistan, send-
ing floods downstream; the
early heat scorched wheat
crops in India, forcing it
to ban exports to nations
reeling from food short-
ages due to Russia’s war in
Ukraine; it also resulted in
an early spike in electricity
demand in India that de-
A construction worker walks across a mirage created on a road
following a heat weave, in New Delhi, Monday, May 2, 2022. A pleted coal reserves, result-
construction worker walks across a mirage created on a road ing in acute power short-
following a heat weave, in New Delhi, Monday, May 2, 2022. ages affecting millions.
Associated Press Then there is the impact on
human health.
By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL Institute of Technology in At least 90 people have
AP Science Writer Mumbai, who was part of died in the two nations,
NEW DELHI (AP) — The dev- the study. but the region’s insufficient
astating heat wave which “This is a sign of things to death registration means
has baked India and Paki- come,” Mondal said. that this is likely an under-
stan in recent months was The results are conserva- count.
made more likely due to cli- tive: An analysis published South Asia is the most af-
mate change, according last week by the United fected by heat stress, ac-
to an international group of Kingdom’s Meteorological cording to an analysis by
scientists. This, they say, is a Office said the heat wave The Associated Press of
glimpse of what the future was probably made 100 a dataset published Co-
holds for the region. times more likely by climate lumbia University’s climate
The World Weather At- change, with such scorch- school. India alone is home
tribution group analyzed ing temperatures likely to to more than a third of the
weather data from the re- reoccur every three years. world’s population that
gion dating back 70 years The World Weather Attri- lives in areas where ex-
and suggested in a study bution analysis is different treme heat is rising.
Monday that a heatwave as it is trying to calculate Experts agree the heat
like this one that sets in how specific aspects of wave underscores the
early, lasts a long time and the heat wave, such as the need for the world to
impacts a massive geo- length and the region im- not just combat climate
graphical area is still a pacted, were made more change by cutting down
rare, a once-in-a-century- likely by global warming. greenhouse gas emissions,
event. But the warming of “The real result is probably but to also adapt to its
the world by 1.2 degrees somewhere between ours harmful impacts as quickly
Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahr- and the (U.K.) Met Office as possible. Children and
enheit) since pre-industrial result for how much cli- the elderly are most at risk
levels because of human- mate change increased from heat stress, but its im-
caused climate change this event,” said Friederike pact is also inordinately
has made it 30 times more Otto, a climate scientist bigger for the poor who
likely. at the Imperial College of may not have access to
If warming increases to 2 London, who was also a cooling or water and of-
degrees Celsius (3.6 de- part of the study. ten live in crowded slums
grees Fahrenheit), then What is certain, though, is that are hotter than leafier,
heat waves like this could the devastation the heat wealthier neighborhoods.
occur twice in a century or wave has wreaked. India Rahman Ali, 42, a ragpicker
even once every five years, sweltered through the hot- in an eastern suburb of the
said Arpita Mondal, a cli- test March in the coun- Indian capital New Delhi
mate scientist at the Indian try since records began earns less than $3 a day by
collecting waste from peo-
ple’s homes and sorting it
to salvage whatever can
be sold. It’s backbreak-
ing work and his tin-roofed
home in the crowded slum
offers little respite from the
heat.
“What can we do? If I don’t
work...we won’t eat,” said
the father-of-two.q