Heatwaves

Heatwaves could be hotter, more prolonged and frequent, the longer countries delay in reaching net zero emissions, a balance between greenhouse gases emitted and those taken out from the atmosphere, according to a modelling study. Trends published in the journal 'Environmental Research: Climate' also indicate that heatwaves do not start to revert towards pre-industrial conditions for at least a millennium even after achieving net-zero targets. Regions in the Southern Hemisphere are projected to experience heatwaves of significantly increasing severity when net zero was modelled to occur by 2050 or later. Lead author Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, professor of climate science at the Australian National University, said the work challenges a general belief that conditions after net zero will begin to improve for future generations. "While our results are alarming, they provide a vital glimpse of the future, allowing effective and permanent adaptation measures to be planned and implemente

People in India each experienced nearly 20 heatwave days in 2024 on average, of which about six-and-a-half days would not be expected were it not for climate change, according to a new global report published by The Lancet journal. Estimates suggest that an exposure to heat in 2024 resulted in a loss of 247 billion potential labour hours per year -- a record high of nearly 420 hours per person -- and 124 per cent more than that during 1990-1999. The agriculture sector accounted for 66 per cent, and construction sector for 20 per cent of the losses in 2024, according to the '2025 Report of The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change'. A reduced capacity of labour due to the extreme heat is associated with a potential loss of income of USD 194 billion in 2024, it said. An international team of 128 experts from 71 academic institutions and UN agencies, led by University College London, were involved in producing the ninth edition of the report. Published ahead of the 30th UN ..

Residents of the western US are sweltering in a heat wave that's already hospitalized some as temperatures will continue to hit dangerous levels throughout the weekend in Washington, Oregon, Southern California, Nevada and Arizona. Around 1.2 million people were under extreme heat risk Saturday, meaning temperatures are expected to stay dangerously high with no relief overnight. The largest area under the warning is around Tucson, Arizona, where the National Weather Service forecast dangerous highs between 102 and 107 degrees Fahrenheit (39 and 42 degrees Celsius). Areas of inland Southern California also faced extreme risk. Another 18.6 million are under major heat risk, affecting workers and anyone without regular cooling and hydration, including in Miami. Portland, Oregon, reported a record high for August 22, according to preliminary data. Struggling through the smothering heat were long-distance runners who were passing a baton in a relay race from inland Mt. Hood to the Pacifi

Heatwaves forced closures of sites like the Acropolis and Eiffel Tower, with Europe facing a growing tourism divide as climate change impacts north and south differently

India reported 7,192 suspected heatstroke cases and only 14 confirmed deaths due to extreme heat between March 1 and June 24 this year, according to data obtained by PTI under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The country had reported nearly 48,000 cases of heatstroke and 159 deaths due to extreme heat in 2024, the warmest year on record in India since 1901. The data, shared by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), reveals that the majority of cases were reported in May, the peak of the summer season, with 2,962 suspected cases and three confirmed deaths. April saw 2,140 suspected cases and six confirmed deaths, while March recorded 705 cases and two deaths. During June, up to June 24, 1,385 suspected cases and three deaths were documented. Andhra Pradesh accounted for more than half of the total suspected heatstroke cases, reporting 4,055 during the period. Rajasthan reported 373 cases, followed by Odisha (350), Telangana (348) and Madhya Pradesh (297). Despite these

Marine heatwaves -- prolonged periods of raised ocean temperatures than what are typical for that time of year -- experienced in 2023 were not only unprecedented, but may have also signalled a potential climate tipping point, with irreversible, negative impacts to coral reefs and ecosystems, according to a new study. Researchers from China and the US found that regions in oceans across the globe, including the North Atlantic, and the tropical, south and north Pacific experienced extreme marine heatwaves -- the longest in duration, widest in extent and highest in intensity on record. The findings, published in the journal Science, show that the most intense warming occurred in the North Atlantic, tropical eastern Pacific, north Pacific, and southwest Pacific, which "collectively accounted for 90 per cent of the global ocean warming". Heatwaves in the North Atlantic which began mid-2022 persisted for 525 days with an intensity four times the typical, making it "the longest recorded ..

Children exposed early to extreme heat may lose up to 1.5 years of schooling with climate change having a direct impact on education and threatening to undo educational gains of recent decades, according to a new global report. Climate related stressors such as heat, wildfires, storms, floods, droughts, diseases and rising sea levels, affect education outcomes. Most low and middle-income countries are experiencing climate-related school closures every year, increasing chances of learning loss and dropout, it noted. The report compiled by UNESCO's Global Education Monitoring (GEM) team, Monitoring and Evaluating Climate Communication and Education (MECCE) project and University of Saskatchewan in Canada has pointed out over that the past 20 years, schools were closed in at least 75 per cent of the extreme weather events, impacting five million people or more. Exposure to heat has significant detrimental effects on children's educational outcomes. An analysis linking census and climat

According to The Lancet, yearly heat wave-related deaths in China have now nearly doubled compared with 1986 to 2005, with more than 37,000 deaths in 2023 alone

Spain sees hottest June in a century; more than 50,000 people evacuated amid wildfires in Turkiye and the Balkans

Key rice growing areas will also bake in the heat, threatening to damage the crop during a crucial development stage and risking lower output in one of the country's top-producing regions

'Very high and persistent temperatures are expected, both during the day and at night, which could pose a risk to exposed and/or vulnerable people,' Spain's state meteorological office, Aemet said

Asia is heating nearly twice as fast as the global average, triggering severe heatwaves, rainfall anomalies and cyclonic activity across the region in 2024, WMO has said

The report highlights that in 2024, heatwaves gripped a record area of the ocean, with sea surface temperatures hitting all-time highs

Saturday is expected to be the deadliest day, with an estimate of 266 heat-related deaths, nearly half of which could be recorded in London, according to the researchers

In Delhi, mercury levels have surged past 43 degrees Celsius, intensifying discomfort across the city and prompting health advisories amid rising cases of heat-related illnesses

Temperatures are expected to be two degrees Celsius higher than average across the whole Hindu Kush Himalayan region this summer, according to a new analysis by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). The ICIMOD also predicted that India, Nepal, Pakistan as well as China's Tibetan Autonomous Region will receive above-average rainfall. With floods the leading cause of deaths and economic damage in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region, and close to three-quarters (72.5 per cent) of all floods from 1980 to 2024 occurring during the summer monsoon season, experts warn disaster agencies and communities to be prepared for a possible rise in climate risks. The forecasts we've studied are unanimous in predicting a hotter monsoon across the entire HKH, with a trend towards higher-than-normal rainfall in major parts of the region, Arun Bhakta Shrestha, senior advisor at ICIMOD, said. Rising temperatures and more extreme rain raise the risk of water-induced ...

On Tuesday, Delhi recorded its highest maximum temperature of the season at 43.8 degrees Celsius, which is 3.6 degrees above normal, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD)

On a scorching May afternoon last year, a ragpicker in Delhi's Ghazipur area collapsed from heat exhaustion. "The family rushed him to the hospital," says Majida Begum, a sanitation worker who witnessed it. "But he was declared dead on arrival. They had no proof that he died due to heat, so they were not given any compensation." His death was never officially counted, just one of the countless lives lost in India's intensifying heatwaves that go unrecorded and uncompensated. An investigation by PTI reveals that disjointed, outdated reporting systems are obscuring the true toll, weakening both public awareness and policy action. Accurate data on heat-related deaths helps identify who is most at risk. Without it, the government cannot plan effectively, create targeted policies or take timely action to save lives. But behind the missing numbers are real people, many poor and undocumented, whose deaths routinely slip through the cracks of India's incoherent reporting system. Current

Weeks before the official start of the Northern Hemisphere's summer, signs are emerging that the coming months will be blistering in North America, Europe and Asia

Heavy rain and widespread waterlogging disrupted flights and trains operations in Mumbai with several airlines such as IndiGo and Air India issuing a travel advisory