School closures, suspected food poisoning, health warnings: How brutal is the heatwave in Asia?

Asia is warming faster than the global average, as per the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Heatwaves are lasting longer and reaching greater peaks, with nearly three dozen deaths reported across the vast region of the South and Southeast at the beginning of May, as per CBS News.

Schools have been forced to close weeks ahead of summer vacations, huge swaths of new crops have withered in parched farmland, and people are being hospitalised due to suspected food poisoning as a result of the current heatwave.

Wide-ranging effects are being warned of by scientists in some of the world’s most populous areas.

They are pushing governments to act now to minimise the effects of human-caused global warming and to get ready for the effects of climate change.

Red alert in India

Most parts of India are reeling from high temperatures.

The weather department has forecast an unusually high number of heatwave days for April to June.

April, which recorded heatwaves far worse than in 2023, reported maximum temperatures over 43.33 degrees Celsius.

The trend of April is likely to continue this month.

Referring to the current El Nino weather pattern, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on 1 May that El Nino years typically have more heating, with hot and dry weather in Asia and heavier rains in parts of the Americas.

Fewer thunderstorms and an anti-cyclonic circulation near India’s southeastern coast were causing  heatwaves, the IMD said.

The agency issued a “red alert” warning for the eastern and southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha.

Around eight to 11 heatwave days are predicted over south Rajasthan, west Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha and Marathwada in Maharashtra, and Gujarat regions, IMD chief Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said.

The above-normal temperatures killed at least nine people last month in the country.

Heatwaves are rare in Kerala and data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) shows that the state recorded five  heatwave  days in April.

At least two people died last month in Kerala due to suspected heat stroke.

The southern state was forced to close all schools and colleges until Monday due to soaring temperatures.

Two other deaths were blamed on the heat in the eastern state of Odisha earlier in April.

Soaring temperatures and dry spells have caused frequent forest fires in other parts of India.

The blazes have been worsened by people burning the forest to collect a flower used to brew alcohol in Odisha state.

More on heatwave:

Severe heatwave in India: Why this April has been warmer than previous years

Is a near-permanent heatwave coming to the Indian Ocean?

The ‘once-in-200-year’ heatwave in West Africa: How it wreaked havoc

Hottest April in parts of India. Will May be warmer?

School closures, forest fire in Bangladesh

Schools in neighbouring Bangladesh were forced to close all schools twice over the last two weeks amid the heatwave, as per Reuters.

The country, which follows the Islamic work week from Sunday to Thursday, has wavered over reopening schools for some 33 million students amid pressure to prepare pupils for exams.

Many people have died across the region, and experts warned the heat could exacerbate inequalities, and widen a learning gap between developing and developed nations in the tropics.

On Sunday, the schools reopened and classes were continuing over the weekend, even as the worst  heatwave  in seven decades sent temperatures as high as 43.8 degrees Celsius last week.

The United Nations children’s agency has estimated that one in three children, or nearly 20 million children, in low-lying Bangladesh, bears the brunt of such climate change every day.

Separately, a fire that broke out amid the  heatwave  on Saturday and spread across three acres of the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest that is home to the Royal Bengal tiger, was brought under control on Sunday, officials said.

Hot heads in the Philippines

Heat indices have hit 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in various regions of the Philippines.

Thousands of schools have suspended classes due to the heat, affecting more than 3.6 million students, education ministry data shows.

“In May, we’re expecting more class suspensions because of the  heatwaves. We’re seeing an average of more than 52 degrees Celsius (125 F), so you could imagine how stressful that would be for learners,” said Xerxes Castro, basic education adviser for the Save the Children Philippines.

Students and teachers have expressed concerns about difficulties in remote teaching and learning, especially in poorer areas where homes are not conducive for studying and may lack access to good internet connectivity.

Students attending in-person classes in the capital, Manila resort to portable fans, notebooks and even cardboard boxes for a bit of breeze to offer relief.

Mekong Delta region

According to The Associated Press, the entirety of the Mekong Delta, which includes Vietnam as well as Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia, saw extreme heat.

Parts of Laos and Thailand saw temperatures that were five to seven degrees Celsius (41-44.6 degrees Fahrenheit) more than the average between 3-9 April, according to the Mekong Dam Monitor programme of the Stimson Center in Washington D.C.

In Vietnam, about 560 people were hospitalised with suspected food poisoning after eating bánh mì sandwiches from Bang bakery in Long Khanh city in southern Vietnam, as per BBC.

Twelve of them, including two boys aged between six and seven, were in a critical condition. Long Khanh Town authorities, on Monday, said that 200 people had since been discharged.

The sandwiches are believed to be spoiled due to the current heatwave.

An investigation has been launched to find the cause of suspected food poisoning. It is also to be noted that recently, the number of food poisoning cases have steadily risen each day.

Meteorologists in Cambodia say the country is facing its hottest temperatures in 170 years, reaching as high as 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit). Schools in the Asian nation have been cutting back on their hours.

The Thai capital Bangkok has touched 40 degrees, but the heat index reportedly topped 50 degrees.

Cities such as Bangkok constitute urban heat islands, where the temperatures are hotter than in the surrounding countryside because of the mass of buildings and concrete that trap and retain heat.

Asia – most climate disaster-impacted region

Asia was the world’s most disaster-hit region by climate-related hazards last year, the WMO said, with floods and storms causing the highest number of casualties.

In a report published on 23 April, WMO said that 79 disasters linked to hydro-meteorological events had been reported in Asia in 2023.

More than 80 per cent of these were related to floods and storms that caused more than 2,000 deaths.

“Many countries in the region experienced their hottest year on record in 2023, along with a barrage of extreme conditions, from droughts and  heatwaves to floods and storms,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.

“Climate change exacerbated the frequency and severity of such events.”

Asia is warming faster than the global average, according to the WMO.

Last year, high average temperatures were recorded from western Siberia to central Asia, as well as from eastern China to Japan.

The report also highlighted that most glaciers in the high-mountain region in Asia had loss significant mass because of record-breaking high temperatures and dry conditions.

With inputs from Reuters