Scorching Heat in Pakistan May Have Set a World Record

Instead of April showers, one city in southern Pakistan got some extreme heat. And by extreme heat, we mean sweltering temps that could go down in the global record books. On April 30, 2018, the temperature in Nawkwabash, Pakistan climbed all the way up to122.4 degrees Fahrenheit(50.2 degrees Celsius).Meteorologiststhink this might be the highest April temperature ever recorded anywhere ever on the planet.

Your backyard thermometer probablycouldn't even measuresuch an absurdly high temperature. The human body isn't equipped to deal with heat like this either. Serious health risks present themselves when the weather exceeds 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius). At that temperature, sweat alone cannot adequately cool down the body, which becomesvulnerableto dehydration and heatstroke.

"The worst sufferers of heatstroke were labourers [sic] and motorcyclists,"reportedone Pakistani newspaper. Due topower outages, air conditioning wasn't even an option for many of Nawkwabash's 1.1 million citizens. Dozens fainted and were rushed to medical centers. While trying to cool off in the Rohri Canal, two teenage boys drowned.

Weather historian Christopher C. Burttold the Washington Postthat the high of 122.4 degrees Fahrenheit/50.2 degrees Celsius is probably the highest temperature to ever be "reliably observed onEarthin modern records" during the month of April.

It's difficult to know for sure. In April 2011, a scorcher measuring 123.8 degrees Fahrenheit (51 degrees Celsius) was reported in Santa Rosa, Mexico. However, other official temps recorded in the same area at the same time were cooler, so some are skeptical of the high reading.

At the very least, Nawkwabash did set a new record for the hottest-ever April temperature inPakistani history. Right now, the city's in the midst of a stifling trend. The local temperature there did not fallbelow113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 degrees Celsius) at any point during the first week of May. The sameheat waveis being felt throughout much of southern Asia. Public officials in such cities as Karachi, Pakistan, are also worried about the area's excessivehumidity levels. Unfortunately, periods of intense heat have become commonplace in this portion of the globe. A minimum of 3,500 lives were lost there during a late spring heat wave in 2015. Experts warn thatclimate changewill make the problem worse. Much worse. Southern Asia is home to one-fifth of the global population. Unless current trends reverse, parts of it could soon be rendered uninhabitable.