According to the New York Times, temperature highs in Nawabshah, Pakistan, have not dropped below 113°F all week. The rest of Pakistan and India have also seen triple digit numbers as they have been experiencing what is being politely called a “heat wave.”
A large area of high pressure over the Indian Ocean, known as a heat dome, is to blame. Another heat dome brought 113.9-degree temperatures to Nawabshah in March, setting a national record for that month. Several other countries in Asia also broke their heat records for March. And temperatures will only increase as spring turns to summer.
According to Al Jazeera, the city of Nawabshah reached a temperature of 122.3° F on Monday, making this is a “global record” for the month of April. Yay?
It was subsequently confirmed by the Pakistan Meteorological Department as the highest temperature recorded in the country in April.
Records extend back as far as the 1930s. (The previous Pakistan April record of 50.0C (122F) was set only the previous year.)
Nawabshah, with a population of 1.1 million, lies in Sindh province, around 180km to the northeast of Karachi.
To put this into perspective, in recorded history, very few days have been hotter.
The highest temperature recognized by the World Meteorological Organization at any time of year is 134 degrees Fahrenheit (56.7 degrees Celsius), recorded in Death Valley in 1913, but the validity of that measurement has been questioned. Some prominent meteorologists, including Mr. Burt, believe that the highest reliably recorded temperature is 129.2 degrees Fahrenheit (54 degrees Celsius), reached in Death Valley in 2013 and Kuwait in 2016.
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