Long before the official onset of summer, parts of Asia are smoldering under the effects of unseasonal heat supercharged by a waning El Niño and human-caused climate change.
From Gaza and Israel in the west and eastward to Vietnam, Laos and the Philippines, people have faced days upon days of temperatures soaring well above 40˚ Celsius. In West Bengal, India, temperatures hit 47.2˚ C.
Relentless heat is especially difficult for people who have to be outdoors, such as farmers and construction workers, and for refugees on the move or living in camps and confined to tents and makeshift housing. Millions of people, especially children, the elderly, and those with low immunity or pre-existing conditions, are also at high risk, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, or IFRC, warns.
Heat waves are increasingly recognized as one of the most deadly natural hazards, yet their impacts are often underreported or underestimated. They can result in thousands of deaths and affect everything from farm production to forced school closings to increased wildfire threats while straining heath care systems.
“We are observing first-hand the critical conditions faced by outdoor workers like rickshaw pullers and construction workers who are significantly impacted,” says Kazi Shofiqul Azam, head of the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society. “This heat wave undoubtedly represents a new and exceptionally dramatic event.”
Greenhouse gases to blame
A report by World Weather Attribution, or WWA, which is supported by IFRC, finds the early season heat waves result from Earth’s changing climate, and, in some places, would be “virtually impossible” to have if humans were not pumping millions of tons of greenhouse gases into the air.
“From Gaza to Delhi to Manila, people suffered and died when April temperatures soared in Asia,” says Friederike Otto, an author of the report and lecturer at London’s Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment. “Heat waves have always happened. But the additional heat, driven by emissions from oil, gas and coal, is resulting in death for many people.”
In its rapid study, WWA divides the April heat waves into three geographic areas: West Asia, South and Southeast Asia, and the Philippines.
West Asia, a hot and largely arid area, is warming significantly faster than many other regions. Stretches of excessive hot weather in places like Gaza, Israel, Lebanon and Syria, are growing longer and more frequent and climate researchers say the region will probably see even hotter, longer heat waves in the coming years.
“The extreme heat has compounded an already extremely dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank,” the report says.
Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar saw the hottest April days on record. In the Philippines, one of the hardest hit countries, schools were closed, electricity rationed and health warnings issued.
Global records continue to fall
Globally, the U.N. climate agency reports that last month was the warmest April on record, making it 11 straight months of record global temperatures. Sea surface temperatures, vital for the health and stability of the Earth’s climate cycles, have been at record highs for 13 months.
The month was 1.58° warmer than an estimate of the April average for 1850 to 1900, the designated pre-industrial reference period. But the World Meteorological Organization notes that breaches of 1.5˚ do not mean the world has failed to achieve the Paris Agreement’s long-term temperature goal of holding global average temperature increase to “well below 2° above pre-industrial levels."
Asia was the world’s most disaster-affected region in 2023, due to weather, climate and water-related hazards. Storms and floods hit the hardest, though there was overall lower precipitation in some areas. Several extreme events occurred such as heavy rainfall in Myanmar, floods and storms across India, Pakistan, and Nepal, and record hourly rainfall in Hong Kong, WMO says.
This year, South America had its warmest April on record, and Europe its second warmest. In the Northern Hemisphere, April’s snow cover extent was the smallest ever recorded for the month. Extreme rainfall flooded parts of the Arabian peninsula. Persistent heavy rain in East Africa and southern Brazil worsened the first week of May.
In Southern Africa, Malawi is enduring El Niño-influenced flooding and drought, with crops destroyed and hunger soaring. Upwards of 9 million people are affected and about 40% of the population could be facing acute hunger by the end of the year, humanitarian aid workers say. Neighboring Zambia and Zimbabwe also declared drought emergencies.
Some key findings of the WWA study:
- Heat wave worsened conditions for internally displaced people, migrants, and those in refugee camps or conflict zones in West Asia.
- In Gaza, extreme heat affected 1.7 million displaced people, worsening their living conditions.
- Challenges in refugee camps include water shortages, lack of access to medicines, and poor living conditions in heat-trapping tents.
- Limited institutional support and adaptation options increase health risks and hardship.
- Extreme heat closed thousands of schools in South and Southeast Asia, exacerbating education gaps, increasing dropout risks, and impacting human capital development.
- Certain groups (construction workers, transport drivers, farmers, fishers) face disproportionate impacts on livelihoods, income, and health.
- Earth has warmed by 1.2° since pre-industrial times.
