India suffers worst heat wave in 122 years
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Indian Meteorological Department have continued to issue warnings for the high temperatures in India in May. The WMO organization said it was too early to attribute extreme heat in India and Pakistan to climate change alone. However, this is in line with WMO expectations for climate change – heat waves are more frequent, and intense and start earlier than in the past. On April 30th, the India Meteorological Department predicted that temperatures in northern and western parts of India could reach as high as 50 degrees Celsius in May, adversely affecting crops and industrial activity. This number is already close to the highest level in India in 122 years. Meanwhile, with the increased power consumption and coal shortages, the aforementioned regions of India have recently suffered from a power crisis. The latest news shows that Indian Railways has canceled 753 passenger train services to make room for coal shipments during the power crisis.
Hottest April on record
“The average maximum temperature in northwestern and central India in April was the highest in the past 122 years,” said Mrutunjay Mohapatra, head of the India Meteorological Department. The maximum temperature reached 43-46 degrees Celsius in most of India on April 28.
A similar situation happened in Pakistan. The Pakistan Meteorological Department said daytime temperatures could be 5C to 8C warmer than normal in most parts of the country. The department warned that in some mountainous regions, unusually high temperatures could accelerate snow and ice melt, which could trigger flash floods from glacial lake outbursts in some areas.
In Pakistan’s warmest March in 60 years, many weather stations broke records. For example, the southern Pakistani city-Turbat recorded the fourth-highest temperature in the world at 53.7 degrees Celsius on May 28th, 2017.
Moreover, the sixth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change shows that heatwaves and humid heat stress in South Asia will be more intense and frequent this century.
The Indian Ministry of Geosciences recently released a report on climate change in India and devoted an entire chapter to temperature change. The report shows that the frequency of extreme warm weather in India increased between 1951 and 2015, and the warming trend accelerated during the nearly 30-year period between 1986 and 2015. The hottest day, hottest night, and coldest night have all seen significant increases since 1986.
WMO illustrated that a substantial increase in the frequency, duration, intensity, and coverage of heat waves triggered by high-pressure systems is expected ahead of the Indian monsoon season in the 21st century. WMO also explained that high temperatures are common in both India and Pakistan before the monsoon season, especially in May. But heat waves, which occur in April, are less common.
Coal emergency suspension of passenger trains
The unusually high temperature has had a significant adverse impact on crops and industrial activities. Coal stocks in many places in India have been running low recently, so India has to be forced to suspend more than 700 passenger trains. The purpose is to prioritize coal transportation and timely replenish the demand for coal.
Under the influence of persistent heat, although most Indians cannot afford air conditioners, electricity consumption across India inevitably skyrockets, and coal is in short supply, triggering a severe power crisis. Take the state of Rajasthan in northwestern India as an example. Factories and rural areas in the region lose power for 4 hours a day to relieve power consumption. However, the lack of electricity has dealt a major blow to the development of the Indian economy.
Taking April 28th, when the temperature reached 43-46 degrees Celsius, as an example, the peak demand for electricity in India reached 204.6 GW on that day. About 75% of India’s electricity comes from coal. The massive use of electricity has led to a sharp drop in India’s coal stocks, and the Indian government had to announce the cancellation of 753 passenger train services to free up the capacity of industrial coal.
According to Indian media reports, among the 173 coal-fired thermal power plants in India, at least 108 coal-fired power plants are running low on coal stocks.
India’s electricity ministry said it expected an 8% increase in May after peak demand for electricity surged to a record high on April 28, while the Indian Meteorological Service warned of hotter weather in the coming days.
foreshadowed
In 2020, the Earth Science Division of the Indian Meteorological Department released a report saying that between 1901 and 2018, the overall temperature in India rose by 0.7 degrees Celsius. Under the extreme emissions scenario, the frequency of summer heatwaves is projected to at least triple by the end of the century. Even the odds of warming up at night will increase by 70%.
Typically, during the formation of the summer monsoon, temperatures begin to stabilize and drop sharply in late spring, and rapid warming occurs when onshore winds carry large amounts of moisture northward and bring heavy rain over much of the region. However, this situation is also changing. The overall reduction in seasonal summer monsoon rainfall over the past 6 to 7 years has led to an increased propensity for drought in India. The frequency, intensity, and extent of drought conditions in India are expected to increase by the end of the century.
Although the WHO believes that the extremely high temperature suffered by India may not be directly related to climate change, in recent years, the number of extreme climate events caused by climate change has risen sharply around the world: the average temperature in the Arctic has risen sharply; more wildfires in Canada and the United States; more earthquakes in the Pacific Rim; unexpected volcanic eruptions in Tonga; extreme drought in many parts of Africa and so on. Today, industrialization and urbanization developed rapidly, while environmental issues have not received enough attention. Some countries have even withdrawn from the climate agreement, ignoring the warnings given by the earth. We have no idea whether human beings will destroy the earth that gave birth to them with their own hands in the future.
By Shiyue Luo
