Is 50°C the new normal? Heat stress takes a toll
NEW DELHI: With parts of Delhi seeing maximum temperatures in excess of 49 degrees Celsius (°C) on Sunday, two questions are uppermost on peoples’ minds: is 50 possible; and is the climate crisis behind this?
The answers, according to experts, is that 50°C is indeed possible; and that the climate crisis is likely responsible for what is happening. In fact, it may be the new normal.
On Sunday, parts of Delhi recorded maximum temperatures over 49°C but many other parts of northwest India also burned. Banda in Uttar Pradesh recorded 49°C; Gurugram, Hisar and Narnaul in Haryana; and Khajuraho and Nowgong in Madhya Pradesh recorded maximum temperatures of over 47°C. And people should get used to these, suggested an expert.
“This is the new normal and it will remain so for years to come. Maximum temperatures during heatwave periods over northwest India have already gone up from 45-46°C to 47-48°C. With climate change, we are going to see three things with heatwaves: higher intensity; an increase in duration from, say, 5 days to 7-8 days at a stretch; and a larger impact area,” said M Rajeevan, former secretary, ministry of earth sciences.
The bad news: all three are already evident.
To be sure, there were exceptional events this year that con
NEW DELHI: Indian boxers Nikhat Zareen (52kg), Manisha Moun (57kg) and Parveen Hooda (63kg) on Monday advanced to the semi-finals of the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Istanbul, assuring India of at least three medals at the tournament.
Zareen faced a tough challenge from England’s Charleysian Davison, but with her clean striking she managed to land enough punches to outclass her opponent 5-0. Hooda got the better of Tajikistan pugilist Shoira Zulkaynarova with an identical margin and will take on European bronze medallist Amy Broadhurst of Ireland in the next round. Moun, meanwhile, defeated Mongolia’s Namuun Monkhor in a hardfought quarterfinal by a 4-1 split decision.
However, all of India’s other boxers who competed the quarter-finals on Monday — Nitu Ghanghas (48kg), Anamika (50kg), Jaismine (60kg), Pooja Rani’s (81kg) and Nandini (+81kg) — lost their respective bouts.