New Delhi — It's still spring but hundreds of millions of people across South and Southeast Asia have already faced scorching hot temperatures. The summer heat has arrived early, setting records and even claiming lives, and it's expected to get much worse through May and June as summer actually begins.
At the beginning of May, severe heat waves were already blamed for nearly three dozen deaths across the vast region. Schools have been forced to close weeks ahead of summer vacations and huge swaths of new crops have withered in parched farmland.
- Where the most dangerous heat is expected in the U.S. this summer
Scientists warn of wide-ranging impacts in some of the world's most densely populated regions, and they're urging governments to take immediate action to prepare for the impact of climate change and do whatever is possible to mitigate human-caused global warming.
What's happening, and where?
Several parts of India recorded maximum temperatures over 110 degrees Fahrenheit last month. On April 21, people in the eastern city of Bhagdora sweltered as the mercury touched 114.8 degrees.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday issued a "red alert" warning for the eastern and southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Odisha, where temperatures have been soaring since mid-April. The IMD warned the heat wave was set to get worse before it gets better.
At least two people died in the southern state of Kerala due to suspected heat stroke over the weekend. Two other deaths were blamed on the heat in the eastern state of Odisha earlier in April.
The scorching temperatures are hitting India right in the middle of an ongoing six-week general election — in which nearly a billion people are eligible to vote — making campaigning and voting challenging.
Authorities in neighboring Bangladesh were forced to close all schools twice over the last two weeks amid the heat wave, and temperatures soared to nearly 110 degrees on Monday.
Several areas in Myanmar have recorded record high temperatures around 115 degrees, with a much higher heat index. The heat Index is a measure of what the temperature actually feels like, taking into account humidity, wind speed, and other factors.
The heat wave conditions have been brutal in Southeast Asia, too. In the Philippines, authorities closed thousands of schools as vast areas of the country experienced drought and temperatures up to 111 degrees — unprecedented for the region in early April.
In Thailand, authorities have advised individuals to stay indoors whenever possible due to 30 deaths attributed to heat stroke this year. In the capital Bangkok, officials reported an "extremely dangerous" heat index of 125.6 degrees on Thursday.
In Vietnam, where temperatures exceeded 111 degrees, the national weather agency cautioned about the potential for forest fires, dehydration, and heat stroke.
"Thousands of records are being shattered across Asia, marking the most extreme event in global climatic history," weather historian Maximiliano Herrera stated in a recent social media post.
What's behind the extreme heat?
Scientists are in disagreement regarding the impact of the ongoing El Niño weather phenomenon, but many believe that the temporary warming of the central Pacific, which has influenced weather patterns worldwide for years, has exacerbated conditions this summer in South and Southeast Asia.
"I think it's a combination of El Niño, global warming, and the seasonality," stated Prof. Raghu Murtugudde, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai, in an interview with CBS News. "El Niño is transitioning to La Niña. This is the time when the maximum warming occurs towards the Indian Ocean. Therefore, all these factors are essentially amplifying the weather."
However, not all climate scientists share the same view.
"Last year, we witnessed heat waves without attributing them to El Niño," stated Prof. Krishna AchutaRao, a researcher at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi's Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, in an interview with CBS News.
In the previous year, severe heat waves claimed the lives of over 100 individuals in India and Pakistan during April and May, causing devastation to crops and impacting millions of people.
"Similar to this year, last year's heat wave stretched from regions of India to Bangladesh and Myanmar, extending all the way to Thailand. This year, it expanded further eastward to the Philippines. Hence, we are observing a consistent trend," AchutaRao remarked. "I am not convinced that El Niño is the primary factor behind this."
While many experts concur that climate change plays a significant role in the severe heat affecting Asia this spring, scientists asserted last year that climate change was amplifying the likelihood of heat waves by 100 times.
AchutaRao, in collaboration with other researchers associated with the World Weather Attribution organization, has gathered and scrutinized data on the heat waves from the previous year in the area, along with the numerous natural disasters that ensued in Laos and Thailand. The team's analysis led them to the conclusion that such extreme weather events were unfeasible without the influence of climate change.
"The increasing frequency and severity of such events due to climate change are significantly affecting societies, economies, and, most importantly, human lives and the environment we inhabit," stated Ko Barrett, Deputy Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization.
In 2023, global temperatures soared, marking it as the hottest year on record. The United Nations weather and climate agency highlighted that Asia experienced a rapid warming trend, leading to more frequent and dangerous extreme weather occurrences like floods, major storms, and cyclones.
The Impact on Vulnerable Communities
Despite efforts worldwide to mitigate the effects of extreme weather events through early warning systems, Asia's large impoverished populations are expected to suffer the most from the heat waves, as noted by Murtugudde in an interview with CBS News.
The rising temperatures are projected to cause extensive damage to crops, further exacerbating the challenges faced by farmers who have already been struggling in recent years — a situation that prompted hundreds of thousands to participate in massive protests in India demanding government assistance.
To prevent fatalities during extreme heatwaves, many governments impose restrictions on outdoor work, disproportionately affecting manual laborers in sectors like construction, which play a significant role in Asia's rapidly growing economies.
Urgent Call to Action to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Calls from scientists and environmental activists around the world have been growing louder, urging nations to take immediate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They emphasize that this is the most effective way to combat the escalating threat of global warming. Without significant reductions in emissions, experts warn that the death toll will continue to climb, and millions of individuals will be forced to make a heartbreaking choice during each new heat wave: risk working in hazardous conditions or go to bed hungry.
