THAT STINGING FEEL

Urban heat islands escalate summer discomfort

- REKHA DIXIT

The only reason April 2022 was not the hottest April on record in the country is because northeast India had heavy rainfall, an occurrence so unexpected that even the Indian Meteorology Department (IMD), which now prides itself on accurate forecasts, said it had gone wrong. In northwest and central India, April broke all heat records.

The heat wave (which the weatherman describes as temperature above 40 degrees Celsius and 4.5 to 6.5 degrees Celsius above normal for that time of the year) may be ebbing from parts of the northwest and central lands, but the relief is temporary. April is technically late spring or early summer, May is the hottest month, while for the northern plains, June is as bad, if not worse. Forecasts grimly say that May is likely to witness above normal temperatures.

The World Meteorological Organisation noted that while it may be premature to put the onus for the extreme heat on climate change alone, it was consistent with what is expected in a changing climate— heat waves are more frequent and more intense, and starting earlier.

The early heat could have cascading effects. The Himalayan ice melt could start early, not just further affecting the glaciers, but also bringing gallons of melt rushing down the mountain rivers in quantities that could cause flooding and calamitous events. A very fine climatic balance, perfected over millennia, is poised to crash.