Deadly Heat Wave in India
It’s childish to say that individual weather phenomena are the result of climate change; anyone with the brains of a turnip shudders when one of our store-bought senators offers a snowball as evidence that the Earth has not warmed.
Having said that, it’s hard not to notice the heat wave in India—especially insofar as it’s been so extreme (118 degrees F in places) and has been responsible for 500 deaths thus far. According to the report linked above:
The heat wave affected multiple Indian states and regions, such as Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar and Jharkhand. On 21 May the temperature in the Indian capital, New Delhi, was reported at 42.6 °C (108.7 °F).[5] On the same day, a temperature of 45.4 °C (113.7 °F) was recorded in Jharsuguda and at least 12 people were reported dead due to heat stroke the following day.[5] On 23 May in Allahabad, a temperature of 47 °C (117 °F) was recorded.[3] The cities of Delhi and Kolkata recorded 44.5 °C (112.1 °F) and 36 °C (97 °F) on the same day, respectively.[3] In the state of Odisha, 23 people died of heat stroke.[4] Most deaths occurred in the state of Andhra Pradesh where at least 246 people have died.[1]
The temperature in Hyderabad on 22 May was 44.3 °C (111.7 °F), above the normal maximum of 39.9 °C (103.8 °F) recorded on the same day in the previous years.[6] On the following day the temperature in the city was also above a normal maximum, at 43.6 °C (110.5 °F) against 39.5 °C (103.1 °F) recorded on the same day in earlier years.[6] A report by the Indian Meteorological Department about country’s climate trends in 2014 indicated that the temperatures in Hyderabad were above normal by over two degrees Celsius compared to other parts of the country.[6]
