The heatwave in India broke heat records for the second month in a row.

India has been hit by a heatwave with temperatures exceeding all normal forecasts. Schools buy salt and minerals to prevent dehydration among students, while New Delhi’s giant garbage dump catches fire.

On Thursday, a temperature of 47.4 degrees was measured in Banda, a city in the country’s central Uttar Pradesh province.

Meteorologist on duty at the Meteorological Institute, Jon Austerheim, told VG.

Also in nine other big cities the temperature broke 45 degrees. Austerheim points out that it’s not uncommon for temperatures to be like that at the start of the year:

– This is worrying. This is a very high temperature, he said.

The heatwave comes after Indians this year experienced its hottest March in 121 years – since the country began such measurements in 1901.

– That the temperature was well above normal in March, causing it to be quite dry. It made him even hotter now. It becomes a bit self-reinforcing, especially in periods with little rainfall, Austerheim explains.

Temperatures are expected to rise further over the weekend.

“Unfortunately, this is just the beginning,” wrote meteorologist Scott Duncan Indonesia.

– new normal

Pakistan is also affected by extreme weather. In the city of Jacobabad, known as the warmest city in the worldreported as high as 50 degrees in the coming days.

It writes Washington Post.

Amir AghaKouchak, professor at the University of California, told the paper that the heatwave affected the general population:

– The unfortunate reality is that the people who are most vulnerable are the ones who will be most affected. Lack of access to air conditioning is more common in poor areas and increases the likelihood of heat stroke and death, he said.

AghaKuchak emphasized Washington Post that heat waves will come more regularly in the future.

– This is the new normal and will probably only get worse in the future, unless we take serious action now.

The ongoing heatwave is affecting large parts of India and Pakistan, affecting more than a billion people in total. This is equivalent to ten percent of the world’s population.

India’s wheat production is in jeopardy

Usually, India’s temperature does not reach 40 degrees before May. This week’s temperatures have suddenly hit the country’s wheat crop, which is generally very heat sensitive. The heat wave threatens India’s wheat production.

The situation raises concerns about how the country should balance its own resource requirements and at the same time fulfill its ambition to increase wheat exports, wrote AP.

India is the world’s second largest producer of wheat, but exports only a small part of its crop. Russia and Ukraine are typically the world’s largest and fifth largest producers of wheat, respectively.

As a result of the war in Ukraine, India and several other countries have expressed a desire to export more grain, to compensate for the losses caused by the war.

The possibility for India to implement this is now unclear.