tempo, Jakarta – The Pakistan Meteorological Department announced on Monday, May 27, that as the scorching heat continues, temperatures in the southern province of Sindh exceeded 52 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature this summer and close to the country’s highest record.
An international team of scientists said extreme temperatures across Asia over the past month have probably worsened as a result of human-made climate change.
In Mohenjo Daro, a town in Sindh province known for the ruins of the Indus Valley civilisation founded in 2500 BCE, temperatures rose to 52.2 degrees Celsius (126 F) in the past 24 hours, Shahid Abbas, a senior official at the Pakistan Meteorological Department, said. Reuters.
The temperature was the warmest so far this summer, approaching the city and country’s previous records of 53.5 °C (128.3 °F) and 54 °C (129.2 °F), respectively.
Mohenjo Daro is a small town with scorching hot summers, mild winters and little rainfall, but its limited market, which includes a bakery, a coffee shop, an auto and electronics repair shop and a fruit and vegetable stand, is always bustling with customers.
However, due to the current heatwave, there are hardly any customers at the store.
“Because of the extreme heat, no one is coming to our restaurants. We just put the tables and chairs in our restaurants and sit there doing nothing even though there are no customers,” said Wajid Ali, 32, who runs a tea stall in the town.
“I take baths several times a day, which helps a little. Also, we don’t have electricity. The heat makes me very anxious.”
Near Ali’s shop is an electrical repair shop run by 30-year-old Abdul Khaliq, who sits with the shutters of his shop half-down to avoid the sun as he works. He also complained that the heat was affecting his work.
Mustaq Ahmed, a local doctor, added that locals have adapted to living in extreme weather conditions and prefer to stay indoors or near water.
“Pakistan is the fifth most vulnerable country to the impacts of climate change. We have witnessed above-normal rainfall and floods,” Prime Minister’s Climate Coordinator Rubina Khurshid Alam said at a press conference on Friday, adding that the government was conducting awareness campaigns because of the heatwave.
The highest temperature ever recorded in Pakistan was in 2017, when the temperature rose to 54 degrees Celsius (129.2 degrees Fahrenheit) in Turbat city in the southwestern province of Balochistan. It was the second-hottest in Asia and the fourth-hottest in the world, said Sardar Sarfaraz, chief meteorologist at the Pakistan Meteorological Department.
While the heatwave is expected to subside in Mohenjo Daro and surrounding areas, scorching heat is expected to return to other parts of Sindh province, including the capital Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city.
Reuters
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