At least one-third of people on Earth are currently experiencing record-breaking heat. The “worst April heat wave in Asian history,” per climatologist and weather historian Maximiliano Herrera, spans more than 12 countries across Asia and has already broken hundreds of records across the continent. Thailand broke its all-time high temperature record, reaching nearly 114°F in Tak amid the country’s New Year’s celebrations and roads melted in Bangladesh where the capital city of Dhaka saw its highest temperature in 63 years last Sunday. The extreme heat is also forcing school closures in multiple Indian states. Climate change, mainly caused by the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels, amplifies the intensity, duration and frequency of extreme heat and heat waves. The current heatwave comes just one year after a massive heatwave made 30-times more likely by global warming broiled South Asia. It also comes as research published Wednesday in PLOS Climate warns extreme heat in India is worse than government estimates and is hampering progress toward the country’s health, poverty-reduction, education, and other development goals. (Heatwave: The Verge, Washington Post $, Axios; India schools: The Guardian; India development goals: AP, Reuters)
