The heat wave in India and Pakistan threatens the economic recovery and health of millions of people

Unusually hot weather prevails in India and Pakistan. According to forecasts, there is a dangerous situation. Temperatures in Delhi are expected to be 6 degrees above normal in the coming days.

The power outage was due to the prevailing heat in the country. Air conditioning and ventilation systems operate 24 hours a day in many homes, dramatically increasing the load on electrical networks. At the same time, there is a shortage of coal in power plants that generate 70% of the country’s electricity. India has temporarily reduced the number of passenger trains to ensure faster fuel delivery on freight trains.

A similar situation is found in Pakistan, where the capacity generated is not sufficient to meet the requirements, causing multiple hours of blackouts in cities and rural areas.

In addition, the heat destroys crops, especially wheat, which could thwart India’s plans to convert Indian wheat from Russian and Ukrainian fields. Under these conditions, economists fear that the expected economic recovery after the epidemic is in jeopardy.

“At a time when the world is under tremendous pressure in terms of food security,” WMO spokeswoman Claire Nullis underlined the wave’s extraordinary nature. May.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has warned that the heat wave could “affect the health of millions of people.” Nullis said it was too early to attribute climate change directly to this heat wave, but acknowledged that it matched the system’s expected effects from previous analyzes.