Climate Change Is Making India and Pakistan Heat More Intense
Global warming made the extreme temperatures in April and May 100 times more likely, according to a study by the UK’s Met Office.
Residents fill water from a water tanker in Kusumpur Pahari slum in New Delhi, India on May 13, 2022.
Photographer: Ruhani Kaur/BloombergClimate change made the extreme temperatures that baked north-west India and Pakistan in April and May over 100 times more likely and also increased the chances that such heat waves will occur more frequently by the end of the century.
Without accounting for climate change, a heat wave exceeding the 2010’s average temperature could happen once in every 312 years, according to an attribution study by the UK’s Met Office published on Wednesday. Taking climate change into account, the probabilities increase to once in every 3.1 years in the current climate, and to once in every 1.15 years by the end of the century.