Heatwave Breaks All Records In India And Its Not Even Summer Yet

It is really extremely hot and the country has already seen four heatwaves early in 2022, and to no surprise there is no immediate respite from it either.

New Delhi: Summer came early this year and severe heatwave has gripped most parts of India this time with record temperatures being reported in March itself. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has announced heat wave warning for at least five states as India witnesses its “hottest summer ever” with large parts of the country reporting temperatures around 45 degrees Celsius.

The weather department has issued a yellow alert in Delhi after the national capital recorded the highest temperature of 44.2 degrees Celsius at Siri Fort Complex on April 27. The national capital along with Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh are also likely to witness heatwave conditions from April 28 to May 2, according to the IMD bulletin.

The minimum temperature recorded early on Thursday was 23 degrees Celsius in Delhi. On Wednesday, the maximum temperature at the Safdarjung weather observatory was 41.5 degrees Celsius, three degrees above the normal for this time of the year.

Slight relief in heat from May 2nd?

According to IMD scientist RK Jenamani, northern India will likely experience a dust storm on April 29, causing a drop in temperature from May 1 onwards. Other weather experts also predict the prolonged heat to continue until May 2, thereafter chances of pre-monsoon activities are expected to commence over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, north Rajasthan and western parts of Uttar Pradesh.

Mahesh Palawat, the Vice president of Meteorology and climate change at SkymetWeather, took to Twitter to share the forecast, he said, “Parts of northern India may get slight relief from the ongoing heatwave between May 4 and 7.”

Relief from ongoing #Heat wave is expected by may 4th. #Pre monsoon #dust storm, #Thunderstorm and #rain is possible between May 4 and 7. Mostly during late afternoon/evening over #Punjab, #Haryana, #Delhi & west #UP. @SkymetWeather @JATINSKYMET

— Mahesh Palawat (@Mpalawat) April 28, 2022

Maximum temperature on April 27, 2022:

What is causing extreme heatwaves in India?

India is one of the most vulnerable countries to extreme weather events triggered by the climate crisis.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, heat extremes have increased in the Indian subcontinent while cold extremes have decreased. And this trend is likely to continue for the coming decades.
Another report by the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change had highlighted that if global temperature rise is not contained to 2 degrees Celsius, then heatwaves in India are likely to “last 25 times longer by 2036-2065″.

According to a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Roxy Mathew Koll, while more research is needed to link the current heatwave directly to climate change, “the root cause for increasing heat waves in the Indo-Pakistan region is global warming due to human-made carbon emissions,” jagaranjosh quoted Mathew Koll as saying.