Pakistan, Jacobabad, a city in Pakistan’s Sindh province, with a population of 200,000 is known for its unbearable blazing heat.
The city is situated on the Tropic of Cancer, which indicates that the sun is in close proximity during the summers. In the full summer scorching heat, the temperature in Jacobabad can soar up to 52°C (126 Fahrenheit).
Among the local people in Jacobabad, very few can afford air conditioners, so they manage with fans, ice, and water coolers. The irregular electric supply makes their miseries worse.
Summers that surge up to 52 degrees Celsius is a level the human body is not designed to endure. Jacobabad in Sindh province is positioned along the Indus Valley and is the globe’s hottest place; the only other city that experiences similar heat is Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE.
It is predicted that climate change can make the city even unbearably worse with rising temperatures in the near future. Scientists have attributed intense heatwaves across the world to climate change. Biologically, humans cannot tolerate heat beyond the threshold of 52 degrees Celsius.
Why is Jacobabad so Hot?
Geographically, Jacobabad is situated along the Indus Valley on the Tropic of Cancer. Its location is positioned in such a manner that the sun is directly overhead during the summer months. There is a combination of immense heat and humid air from the Arabian Sea which makes the conditions intolerable.
The population there is largely dependent on agriculture but they are forced to move to cities like Karachi and Quetta to escape the heat.
It is Going to Be Worse:
There are signs of record-breaking temperatures rising even further in the coming years according to researchers who analyze global weather data. Tom Matthews, a lecturer in climate science at Loughborough University, said Indus Valley is the number one spot worldwide in the context of climate change. This can have serious consequences, ranging from water scarcity to extreme heat.
This city has witnessed searing heat earlier as well. The first recording was made in July 1987, then in June 2005, followed by a rise in June 2010 and July 2012. The ultra-heat had only persisted for a few hours, with the three-day average temperature under wet bulb measurement for the summer months of 2010 and 2012 at 34 degrees Celsius.
Heatwaves Over the World:
Apart from Jacobabad and Ras al Khaimah suffers from extreme heat. Parts of eastern coastal India, Pakistan and north-western India recorded temperatures over 31 degrees Celsius (wet bulb) during the summer months. In 2015, two deadly heatwaves across India and Pakistan left more than 4,000 dead.
There are other parts of the world experiencing explosively hot summers such as the shores of the Red Sea, the Gulf of California, and the southern Gulf of Mexico. Recently, a town named Lytton in British Columbia, Canada experienced temperatures of 49.6 degrees Celsius. Over 1,000 residents were evacuated due to wildfires due to the heat. An article in the Independent quoted the British Columbia Wildfire Service as saying the Lytton wildfire was burning out of control over an area of approximately 30 square miles. People were also dying in Lytton.
Oregon and Washington in the US are also experiencing heat waves killing hundreds of people across the two countries as their bodies are not acclimatized to the severity of this level of heat and it is very disturbing at the erratic changes in the globe.
Are people paying enough attention to protecting the Earth and prevent global warming? It appears puny efforts are done because world governments are eager to cut down forests to accommodate their megaprojects.