India's weather department has issued a severe heatwave warning as temperatures soar, throwing millions of lives and livelihoods out of gear. The effects are visible. Farmers say the unexpected temperature spikes have affected their wheat harvest, a development that could potentially have global consequences given supply disruptions due to the Ukraine war, and there is also the increased risk of fires due to rising temperatures. Summers have always been gruelling in many parts of India - especially in the northern and central regions. Even before air-conditioners and water coolers started selling in the millions, people had devised their own ways of coping with the heat - from keeping water cool in earthen jugs to rubbing raw mangoes on their bodies to ward off heat strokes. But many experts say India is now recording more intense, frequent heatwaves that are also longer in duration. Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, agrees that several atmospheric factors have led to the current heatwave. But adding to all that, he says, is global warming. "That's the root cause for the increase in heatwaves," he says, adding that more research is needed to link climate change to other, less extreme weather fluctuations.   Four ways climate change links to extreme weather      What will climate change look like near me?                     https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-61242341              IPCC Scientist Warns India-Pakistan Record Temps 'Testing Limits of Human Survivability'. "Fossil fuels did this," said one climate justice campaigner. "Unless we ditch fossil fuels immediately in favor of a just, renewable-energy based system, heatwaves like this one will continue to become more intense and more frequent." As record-breaking temperatures continue to pummel the Indian subcontinent—endangering the lives of millions of people and scorching crops amid a global food crisis—climate scientists and activists are warning that deadly public health crises of this sort will only grow worse as long as societies keep burning fossil fuels.                       https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-61242341                                             .....and.....                                                                                                                                    "This heatwave is definitely unprecedented," Chandni Singh, senior researcher at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements and a lead author at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) . "We have seen a change in its intensity, its arrival time, and duration." Although heatwaves are common in India, especially in May and June, overpowering temperatures arrived several weeks earlier than usual this year—a clear manifestation of the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency, according to Clare Nullis, an official at the World Meteorological Organization. As CNN reported: The average maximum temperature for northwest and central India in April was the highest since records began 122 years ago, reaching 35.9º and 37.78ºC (96.62º and 100ºF) respectively, according to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). Last month, New Delhi saw seven consecutive days over 40ºC (104ºF), three degrees above the average temperature for the month of April, according to CNN meteorologists. In some states, the heat closed schools, damaged crops, and put pressure on energy supplies, as officials warned residents to remain indoors and keep hydrated.                                    The heatwave has also been felt by India's neighbor Pakistan, where the cities of Jacobabad and Sibi in the country's southeastern Sindh province recorded highs of 47ºC (116.6ºF) on Friday, according to data shared with CNN by Pakistan's Meteorological Department (PMD). According to the PMD, this was the highest temperature recorded in any city in the Northern Hemisphere on that day. "This is the first time in decades that Pakistan is experiencing what many call a 'spring-less year," Pakistan's Minister of Climate Change, Sherry Rehman said in a statement. April's record-shattering temperatures came on the heels of India's hottest March in more than a century and one of its driest. Meanwhile, the region's annual monsoon season is still weeks away."This is what climate experts predicted and it will have cascading impacts on health," said Singh. "This heatwave is testing the limits of human survivability."                           https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/05/02/ipcc-scientist-warns-india-pakistan-record-temps-testing-limits-human-survivability