Temperatures top 110 in Delhi as punishing heat wave builds

For the second month in a row, temperatures in India and Pakistan are abnormally high because of a string of strong and prolonged heat waves — and now another surge is building.

This week, an intensifying heat wave is pushing temperatures to dangerously high levels. Temperatures topped 110 degrees in the Indian capital of Delhi on Thursday. The city of Nawabshah in Pakistan hit 117.5 degrees — the hottest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere this year so far.

The heat wave has heightened the fire danger in recent days, threatened crop yields and even accelerated melting of some glaciers. While this part of the world is no stranger to extreme heat, scientists say conditions have been worsened because of climate change.

“Heat waves happen more frequently now and they are spread around throughout the year,” said Amir AghaKouchak, a professor at University of California, Irvine, in an email. “This is the new normal and most likely it will only get worse in the future unless we take serious actions.”

The India Meteorological Department has placed much of that nation under a “heat watch” through the weekend, with some locations like Madhya Pradesh in the center of the country one step higher at “heat alert.”

Temperatures in this episode are expected to peak over the next few days, although the hot temperature regime over the subcontinent seems entrenched, with little meaningful relief in sight.

Most of India and a large area of Pakistan spent Thursday scorching under temperatures ranging between 104 to 113 degrees. Between the two countries, nearly 1 billion people roasted under these extraordinary temperatures.

More than three dozen locations in India recorded temperatures of 113 degrees or greater, including the sprawling capital of Delhi, where readings rose as high as 115 degrees at the sports complex. Its official high was 110.3 degrees, its highest April temperature in 12 years, according to the India Times.

The heat may escalate further today and Saturday, with little relief at night.