Climate Change makes Record-Breaking Heatwaves in India and Pakistan

A Met Office study reveals that climate change makes Record-Breaking Heatwaves in northwest India and Pakistan 100 times more likely. Once every three years, the region should expect a heatwave that breaks the previous record set in 2010. According to the Met Office, such extreme temperatures would only occur once every 312 years if not for climate change. Temperatures in northwestern India may reach new highs in the coming days, according to forecasters.

The new study comes as the UN's atmospheric research branch, the World Meteorological Organization, predicts that four important climate change indicators will hit new records in 2021: greenhouse gas concentrations, sea level rise, ocean heat, and ocean acidification. The report, according to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, is "a terrible chronicle of humanity's inability to address climate catastrophe."

The region of northwest India and Pakistan has been experiencing an extraordinary pre-monsoon heatwave in recent weeks, which has moderated a little after high temperatures in Pakistan reached 51 degrees Celsius on Saturday. The heat is expected to rise again towards the end of the week and into the weekend, according to the Met Office's Global Guidance Unit. It says maximum temperatures are likely to reach 50C in some spots, with continued very high overnight temperatures. "Spells of heat have always been a feature of the region's pre-monsoon climate during April and May," says Dr Nikos Christidis, who led the team responsible for today's study.