India’s heat wave is the longest ever to hit the country, the government’s chief weather expert said on Monday, warning that people will face increasingly intense temperatures, AFP reports.
Parts of northern India have been affected by a heat wave since mid-May, with temperatures exceeding 45 degrees Celsius.
“This was the longest period because the heat wave was felt for about 24 days in different parts of the country,” said the head of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, in an interview with the Indian Express daily.
Temperatures are expected to drop as the annual monsoon rains move north this month, but Mohapatra warned the situation is set to get worse.
“Heat waves will be more frequent, longer lasting and more intense, if preventive measures are not taken he said.
India is the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases but has pledged to achieve a net-zero emissions economy by 2070 – two decades behind most of the industrialized West.
For now, India relies heavily on coal for electricity generation.
– Human activities, population growth, industrialization and transport mechanisms lead to increased concentrations of carbon monoxide, methane and chlorocarbons. We are endangering not only ourselves, but also future generations – said Mohapatra.
Scientific research shows that climate change is causing heat waves to become longer, more frequent and more intense.
The latest heat wave has seen temperatures in New Delhi reach the capital’s previous record of 49.2 degrees which was set in 2022.
As people sought relief from scorching temperatures, the power grid saw a record demand for electricity of 8,302 megawatts.
On May 29, an automatic weather station in the Delhi suburb of Mungeshpur recorded a maximum temperature of 52.9 degrees but the temperature was the result of a faulty sensor.
Elsewhere in Delhi, 17 other city stations recorded a maximum temperature of 49 degrees Celsius on the same day.
Photo: Sunil Kumar Singh
