<
https://www.theguardian.com/weather/2023/apr/19/severe-heatwave-asia-deaths-schools-close-india-china>
"A severe heatwave has swept across much of Asia, causing deaths and school
closures in India and record-breaking temperatures in China.
Maximiliano Herrera, a climatologist and weather historian, described the
unusually high temperatures as the “worst April heatwave in Asian history”.
In China, local media reported that record temperatures for April had been
observed in many locations, including Chengdu, Zhejiang, Nanjing, Hangzhou and
other areas of the Yangtze River delta region.
Unusually hot temperatures have also been reported in south-east Asia in recent
days, including in Luang Prabang, Laos, which recorded 42.7C this week, the
highest reliable temperature in its history, according to Herrera. Vientiane
also recorded 41.4C, the hottest day ever for the capital, on Saturday. In
Thailand, a government monitoring station in Tak in the north-west of the
country recorded 45.4C on Saturday, breaking the previous high of 44.6C reached
in Mae Hong Son on 28 April 2016. The record was not included in the
government’s official summary statistics, however, which reported the
temperature in Tak as 44.6C.
In Bangladesh, a country at the forefront of the climate crisis, temperatures
soared above 40C in the capital, Dhaka, on Saturday, the hottest day in 58
years, causing road surfaces to melt. An official from the ministry of
environment, forests and climate change said that if the heat did not abate,
they would declare a temperature emergency in certain areas.
In recent years, India has become particularly vulnerable to extreme heat, and
experts fear this year could be even worse. The April heatwave has battered
some Indian states, with the meteorological department this week issuing an
orange warning of a severe heatwave in parts of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha,
Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, all states with a high proportion of rural
workers and labourers who are forced to work outside even as temperatures and
humidity soar.
Six cities in north and east India recorded temperatures above 44C while the
capital, Delhi, recorded 40.4C on Tuesday. The heatwave is expected to continue
until at least Friday."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
