Pakistan and India are Living in Hell

By Carla López, 9th Grade

Climate change has been a really talked topic nowadays. There are some that people don’t really take it seriously and just talk about it as a joke and mock people that believe in it and are actually doing something to help the environment. Pakistan and India should be proof enough to those who don’t take it seriously to make them realize it is indeed something real and it is now not only affecting the ecosystem but also killing people.

For the past weeks, Pakistan and India have become the hottest places on Earth with average temperatures starting from 50°C (122°F). Locals aren’t able to work during the day and start to work at night, when the temperatures go down. They have also been suffering from water and power shortages that last a long time. Last year, the maximum temperature in the area was 54°C. This year temperatures have gone up more than 12 degrees from normal temperature.

The heatwave has already affected crops, with its production dropping to 50%. In some areas, the heat has killed entire fields of crops, affecting farmers and leaving them without resources. Crops are not the only resources affected, but water reservoirs too as they are starting to dry up.

In 2015, a heat wave killed 2,500 people in India and 1,200 in Pakistan. As of 2022, 25 people have died from the heat wave since the temperatures started going up. The heat wave is estimated to cause 1,300 deaths but there are possibilities that it will pass this projected amount.

“India and Pakistan are projected to see more severe heat waves, coupled with high humidity, which will really begin to test limits to adaptation,” said Chandni Singh, lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report and senior researcher at the Indian Institute of Human Settlements. Although these two countries are not the only ones suffering from high temperatures, due to their population density, economic activity and rapid urbanization in the city, it makes them more vulnerable to extreme climate changes.

In some parts of India, electricity demand has led to a coal shortage which left millions of people without electricity for nine hours a day. Imagine having temperatures of 50°C and not being able to turn on the air, that is living in hell. India has also canceled more than 650 passenger trains to replenish coal stocks at power plants. School closures have also been happening. “Children who have to travel to school, many of them are getting nosebleeds, they can’t tolerate this heatwave,” West Bengal’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters last week.

Climate change is a real thing affecting millions of people. As the climate crisis continues and weather extremes take a toll on humans and environments alike, it is up to us to do our part and help stop rising global temperatures by speaking up and implementing small habits in our daily routines that may seem insignificant but make all the difference.

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