麻豆约拍

A UK Met Office study finds that climate change makes record-breaking heatwaves in northwest India and Pakistan 100 times more likely and the region should now expect a heatwave that exceeds the record temperatures seen in 2010 once every three years. Without climate change, such extreme temperatures would occur only once every 312 years, the Met Office says.

A doctor in Punjab says the heatwave has "wreaked havoc" across Pakistan. The temperature there has increased to over 50C and has brought many cases of dehydration, stomach upset to his hospital, with many people unable to access safe drinking water. A listener says conditions in Ahmedabad have been dangerously hot there as people wait anxiously for the monsoon season.

"The mercury has soared to 50C in the last few days. Not only people but birds, livestock and crops are all affected by it."

Photo: A pedestrian uses a water pipe to cool off in Karachi on May 16, 2022 Credit: Getty Images