The Club PUBlication 06/10/2024

126 degrees

New Delhi sweats through record heat Temperatures have been well over 110 for weeks.

By HARI KUMAR and MUJIB MASHAL •
New York Times
NEW DELHI

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New Delhi recorded its highest temperature ever measured Wednesday — 126 degrees Fahrenheit, or 52.3 degrees Celsius — leaving residents of the Indian capital sweltering in a heat wave that has kept temperatures in several Indian states well above 110 degrees for weeks.

In New Delhi, where walking out of the house felt like walking into an oven, officials feared that the electricity grid was being overwhelmed and that the city's water supply might need rationing.

The past 12 months have been the planet's hottest ever recorded, and cities like Miami are experiencing extreme heat even before the arrival of summer. Scientists said this week that the average person on Earth had experienced 26 more days of abnormally high temperatures in the past year than would have been the case without human-induced climate change.

Extreme heat can cause serious health issues and can be fatal.
Although late-afternoon dust storms and light drizzle in New Delhi brought hope of some reprieve Wednesday, the weather station at Mungeshpur, northwest of the capital, reported a reading of 126 degrees about 2:30 p.m. Kuldeep Srivastava, a scientist at the regional meteorological center in Delhi, said it was the highest temperature ever recorded by the automatic weather monitoring system, which was installed in 2010.

In a statement later on Wednesday, India's meteorological department said the Mungeshpur station was "an outlier compared to other stations." It said it was assessing whether that station's recording of a higher temperature than other stations around Delhi was due to an error or a local mitigating factor.

The previous record for the highest temperature, about 48 degrees Celsius — about 118.5 Fahrenheit — was repeatedly crossed in recent days. Three of New Delhi's weather stations reported temperatures of 49.8 degrees Celsius — 121.8 degrees Fahrenheit — or higher Tuesday, setting a record even before the 52.3 degree reading Wednesday.

For weeks now, temperatures in several states in India's north have reached well over 110 degrees, and hospitals have been reporting an uptick in cases of heatstroke. In the Himalayan states, hundreds of forest fires have been reported.

Deadly fires in crowded buildings are regular occurrences in India, with many caused by short circuits. The temperatures have increased concerns about the risks.

The heat wave has coincided with campaigning for India's general election, with the last phase of voting set to take place June 1. Candidates, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and opposition leaders, have continued holding large public rallies, despite the temperatures.

To help conserve water amid the extreme heat, Atishi Marlena, Delhi's water minister, announced the deployment of 200 teams to crack down on waste and misuse. Fines will be imposed for activities such as washing cars with hoses, "overflow of water tanks" and "use of domestic water for construction or commercial" purposes, she said.