Pacific Press | Lightrocket | Getty Images India has been suffering from record heat for the past two months. Last month was the third hottest April the country has seen in 122 years, from 1901 to 2022, according to government officials. The average maximum temperature was 35.30 degrees Celsius (95.5 degrees Fahrenheit), just behind 35.42 degrees Celsius (95.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in 2010 and 35.32 degrees Celsius (95.6 degrees Fahrenheit). ) in 2016, the Indian government said in a statement on Monday in a statement from the Indian government. This is more than one degree higher than the average maximum temperature in April between 1981 and 2010, which was 33.94 degrees Celsius (93.1 degrees Fahrenheit). Air coolers for sale in New Delhi, India, on Saturday, April 30, 2022. India is experiencing a heat wave, with the average temperature of the country reaching almost 92 degrees Fahrenheit (33 degrees Celsius) in March, the highest recorded for in the month since authorities began collecting data in 1901. Anindito Mukherjee | Bloomberg | Getty Images The average maximum temperature recorded in March was 33.10 degrees Celsius (91.6 degrees Fahrenheit), which is the highest average maximum in the last 122 years and just slightly higher than the previous high record recorded in March 2010. It is almost two degrees higher than the average maximum temperature in March between 1981 and 2010, which was 31.24 degrees Celsius (88.2 degrees Fahrenheit). What is particularly remarkable is the early onset of the heatwave, according to Arpita Mondal, a professor of climate studies at the Indian Institute of Technology. The expected time of a heat wave like this is May and June, Modal told CNBC. It also affects a particularly large geographical area, Mondal said. Residents fill water from a Delhi Municipal Company truck in New Delhi, India on Saturday, April 30, 2022. Anindito Mukherjee | Bloomberg | Getty Images The length and latitude of the heat wave are what make Zachary Zobel, an assistant scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, remarkable. “The most shocking part for me was the geography and the duration,” Zobel told CNBC. “Yes, this heat wave that occurs in April is also worrying, as May and June are usually the hottest months for India, but the magnitude and duration of these heat waves is what has surprised me the most.” Man-made climate change is likely to make heat waves warmer, longer and more common, according to the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. “The scientific community has overwhelming evidence that climate change is causing the temperature distribution to shift by changing the ‘normal’ state, and a change in distributions would mean more and more opportunities for extreme levels,” Mondal told CNBC. A farmer pours water on himself while working on a wheat farm in the Ludhiana area of Punjab, India, on Sunday, May 1, 2022. T. Narayan | Bloomberg | Getty Images And areas of the planet affected by this heat wave are likely to be vulnerable to more heat waves in the future, Zobel said. “There is no doubt that heat waves are being exacerbated by fossil fuels and climate change around the world,” he told CNBC. “India and Pakistan are two of the hottest places in the world and will probably continue to see heat waves of this magnitude worse in the coming decades.” That said, more research is needed to fully understand the cause and future effects of this heat wave, according to Mondal. Heat waves are often a response to many specific factors, such as Pacific and Atlantic ocean events and local weather patterns arising from dry land due to limited rainfall, he said. Northwest and central India are due to storms that should be some relief from the record heatwave that has gripped much of the country in recent months. The temperature is expected to drop by several degrees. A man appears to be drinking water to relieve the summer heat on a side road in Calcutta, India, on April 29, 2022. Debarchan Chatterjee | Nurphoto | Getty Images Other areas are not expected to see much relief in the short term. Gujarat and Maharashtra, in the western part of the country, are expected to have “no significant change” in their maximum temperatures over the next two days and then see their maximum temperatures rise by about 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees). Fahrenheit). The Indian Meteorological Agency announced on Monday. An elderly woman puts water on his face to relieve excessive heat during the heat, Calcutta Maximum temperature in Calcutta May reach 40 degrees on April 26, 2022. Debajyoti Chakraborty | Nurphoto | Getty Images To deal with the heat, the Indian Meteorological Company has advised people to avoid direct exposure to heat and stay hydrated. “Drink plenty of water – even if you are not thirsty,” the agency said in a written statement released Sunday. “Wear light, light-colored, loose-fitting cotton clothes and cover your head using a cloth, hat or umbrella,” the Indian government recommended. Much of India is expected to continue to suffer from high temperatures in May, the government’s meteorological service said. “Above normal minimum temperatures are possible in most parts of northwestern, central, eastern and northeastern India,” said the monthly Outlook for the Future, published Saturday. A man carries a pedestrian fan in the midst of heat in Calcutta, India, April 26, 2022. Indranil Aditya | Nurphoto | Getty Images
