Extreme heatwaves in India and Pakistan a sign of things to come, climate body says 

Copernicus, which analyses data "using billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations around the world", found that the extreme heat in India and Pakistan has continued following record highs in March.

The heatwave led to critical water and power shortages as well as damage to crops, Copernicus said.

Director of Copernicus, Carlo Buontempo, said: "Although it is too soon to assess the extent to which climate change contributed to the extreme heatwave sweeping across parts of India and Pakistan in late April, the rising global temperatures generally increase the likelihood of occurrence of heatwaves."

Cities such as Balochistan, Sibi, and Jacobabad in Pakistan crept up towards 50C in the past week, with residents telling The Guardian newspaper it was like "living in hell". 

Spreading Heatwave

Although Europe was largely insulated last month from temperatures spiking above the norms, heatwave conditions were also experienced in the likes of Egypt and Sudan, Copernicus said.

High spring temperatures were reported in the Central Asian Republics, and were also much higher than average over Greenland, easternmost Russia, and the Ross and Weddell sectors of Antarctica, it added.

According to its overall data, April globally was 0.28C warmer than the 1991 to 2020 average. 

It was the sixth warmest April on record, though only slightly cooler than the warmest ever April in 2016 and 2020. It was warmer than April 2010, which had been the record place holder until April temperatures regularly broke records during the last decade.

Antarctic sea ice extent for April was 13% below the 1991-2020 average, ranking fifth-lowest jointly with 2006 and 2018, in the 44-year satellite record. Sea ice extent refers to the total area covered by some amount of ice. 

When it comes to rainfall and flooding, much of Europe experienced wetter-than-average conditions in April.

Copernicus said,

"Exceptions to this included southern Scandinavia, Italy, part of the Balkans and, notably, part of the Caucasus region and Turkey." 

Large parts of Central Asia, North and South America, and the Horn of Africa were dryer than average, while it was wetter than average in large regions of Australia and South Africa, the latter hit by storm Issa causing heavy precipitation and flooding, it added.

The ferocious temperatures seen in India and Pakistan over recent weeks could become a feature in Europe as global warming continues, Copernicus warned in its annual report last month.

Europe saw its hottest summer on record last year, while rainfall also broke previously recorded levels, as greenhouse gases from carbon dioxide, and methane in particular, continued to rise throughout the year, it said.

The temperatures of 48.8C in Italy and 47C in Spain recorded last year could go higher given the nature of climate change and extreme weather patterns, and it was not unreasonable to think it could surpass 50C in the future, it said.