A direct consequence of the climate emergency, India recorded heat waves throughout the month of April described as some of the worst in history. Across the country, data from the Indian Meteorological Department reveal, the average maximum temperature observed — 35.3 °C — was the third highest since 1901, when information began to be collected.
Even more serious are the situations in the northwestern and central parts of the country, which are most affected by extreme heat. Last month’s high averages — 38 degrees Celsius and 36.3 degrees Celsius, respectively — were the highest in the last 122 years for the regions, according to the department. Neighboring Pakistan has seen a similar scenario.
Scientists warn that 1 billion of the population of 1.38 billion people is at risk of being affected by heat waves, and the consequences are being felt in everyday life, with electricity demand in the country reaching records, public services changing routine schedules. and fires being observed more frequently.
Reuters analysis based on official data showed that energy demand grew by 13.2% in the last month, as the need for electricity, especially in the north, jumped between 16% and 75%. The challenge is expected to remain, as the institutes predict similarly high temperatures for May, with peaks of 40°C.
The capital New Delhi, for example, recorded record energy demand on Monday, when 6,194 megawatts were needed, the highest value ever for the first week of May. In April, the situation was similar, when energy demand increased by 42%, the Reuters survey showed.
And the unprecedented use of electricity has resulted in widespread power cuts as coal inventories are at their lowest for at least nine years. To decrease usage, states such as Haryana have announced a change in school class hours — from 7 am to noon to 8 am to 2:30 pm local time. Others even anticipated the students’ summer vacation.
Seven states, according to a count by the AFP agency, suffered the worst power cuts in more than six years, most of them in the north. Three major fires were recorded in less than a month at the Ghazipur landfill, the capital’s largest, with 65-meter mountains of garbage — the lack of infrastructure to deal with the 12,000 tons of waste produced daily is a latent challenge in New Delhi.
The crisis has made the expression climate change increasingly come into the vocabulary of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India is the fourth largest global emitter of carbon dioxide, behind only China, the US and the European Union, according to the EU’s Edgar database, a reference on the subject. The per capita emission in 2019 was 1.9 tons.
Modi warned in a speech last week that the fact that the country is getting warmer increases the likelihood of fires. “Temperatures are rising rapidly and rising much faster than usual,” he told a virtual conference for heads of local governments. “In the last few days we have seen episodes in various places — in the forests, in important buildings and in hospitals.”
Heat waves have killed more than 6,500 people in India since 2010, scientist Mariam Zachariah of the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London told AFP. “Before human activities increased global temperatures, heat like this that hit India was only observed once every 50 years. Now, we can expect temperatures this high at least once every four years.”
During the 26th UN Climate Change Conference, which took place in Glasgow, Scotland, last year, Modi announced the goal of reducing the country’s carbon emissions by 2030 and zeroing them by 2070. Still, he acted alongside China. to mitigate a final objective on coal, in order to continue its consumption.
This Monday, he also partnered with Prime Minister Olaf Scholz’s Germany to help India meet climate goals. Berlin must send €10 billion (R$ 53 billion) to New Delhi.
