ISLAMABAD– Pakistani authorities on Tuesday urged people to stay home as the country is gripped by an extreme heat wave that threatens to bring dangerously high temperatures and another round of glacial flooding.
Pakistan’s most populous province, Punjab, will close all schools for a week due to the heat, affecting about 18 million students.
“The sweltering heat will continue this month,” said Zaheer Ahmed Babar, a senior official at the Pakistan Meteorological Department. He added that temperatures could reach up to 6 degrees Celsius (10.8 Fahrenheit) above the monthly average. This week they could exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in many parts of the country, Babar said.
It is the latest climate-related disaster to hit the country in recent years. Melting glaciers and increasing monsoons have caused devastating floods, at one point submerging a third of the country.
Pakistan recorded its wettest April since 1961, with more than double the usual monthly rainfall, according to the national meteorological centre. Heavy rains last month killed dozens of people and destroyed property and farmland; Experts say the country witnessed heavier rains due to climate change.
Pakistan is still trying to recover from $30 billion in losses caused by devastating climate-induced floods that killed 1,739 people in 2022.
According to health officials, hospitals were ordered to set up heat wave emergency response centers so that those affected by the scorching temperatures could be treated quickly.
Doctors say heat stroke is a serious illness that occurs when body temperature rises rapidly due to sweltering heat, which can cause some people to lose consciousness. Severe heat stroke can cause disability or death.
Some areas of Pakistan are also currently facing power outages lasting hours.
“On Monday we were without electricity for hours,” said Ibrar Abbasi, who lives on the outskirts of Islamabad.
Scientists have long warned that climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and certain agricultural practices, will lead to more frequent and longer bouts of extreme weather, including higher temperatures.
Babar said another intense heat wave will hit the country in June, when the temperature is likely to reach 45 degrees (113 Fahrenheit). He said people should drink plenty of water and avoid unnecessary travel. Farmers and other livestock owners should take steps to protect their animals during extreme heat, he said.
However, many people, especially laborers and construction workers in the impoverished nation, are wondering how they can stay at home as their families will suffer if they do not work.
“I don’t feel well because of the sweltering heat, but I have to work,” said Ghulam Farid, owner of a small general store in Sheikhupra, a city in Punjab province.
Construction workers were seen sitting near a road on the outskirts of the capital, Islamabad, hoping to get a job. Among them was Mohammad Khursheed, 52, who said he had noticed a change in seasonal patterns.
“I feel the heat even in the morning, but people say the temperatures will rise even more,” he said.
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Associated Press writer Babar Dogar contributed to this story from Lahore, Pakistan.
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