Environmental News from India:
- April was the hottest month for northwest and central India and the third-hottest April the country has seen over the past 122 years, from 1901 to 2022.
- The heatwave is also taking lives. It has already taken 25 lives in Maharashtra in April and March, which is the highest in six years, and over 374 cases of heat stroke have been reported in this period.
- We take a closer look at the heat patterns, cascading impacts of a heatwave, and how we can control climate change.
The number of heatwave days in India in a decade has increased from 413 during 1981-90 to 575 in 2001-10, and further to 600 in 2010-20, a study by IMD and Kottayam-based Institute for Climate Change Studies (ICCS) said, highlighting the impact of the climate crisis on the maximum temperatures. In fact, 12 of the country’s 15 warmest years on record have occurred in the last 30 years.
The daily high temperatures measured each year have also been increasing at a faster rate than daily low temperatures. This indicates that the distribution of temperature is shifting and changing the ‘normal’ state.
The heatwave is also taking lives. The 2015 heatwave in June killed more than 2,500 people, and the 2022 heatwave in March and April has already taken 25 lives in Maharashtra, which is the highest in six years, and over 374 cases of heat stroke have been reported in this period.
Experts predict that before climate change, such intensity of heat would have only been seen about once in every 50 years in India. However, it is now expected to occur once every four years.
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Source: Business Insider India