Asia: – Extreme record temperatures

Asia experiences weeks of “record endless heat,” with extreme temperatures causing school closures and heavy energy use, writes Watchman.

April records were set at measurement stations across Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, China and South Asia.

On Tuesday, four target stations in Myanmar recorded 43 degrees, which was a record high for the month of April. On Wednesday, 42.2 degrees was measured in Paju, matching a record high from May 2020 and April 2019, according to climate expert and weather historian Maximiliano Herrera.

However, the heat index, which says something about what the temperature actually feels like, is set at 54 degrees in several places.

Herrera told the newspaper that one record after another was set last month in Asia.

In Bangkok, residents have been advised to stay home for the past week to avoid contracting the disease.

However, many have defied the advice, and are trying to cool off with umbrellas that protect them from the sun, or staying in air-conditioned malls. In some areas, sprinkler systems have been turned on in apartment complexes and universities to lower the temperature and avoid air pollution.

Fear of El Niño phenomenon

In the Philippines, hundreds of schools have turned to digital teaching, in order to prevent students from failing. According to The Guardian, more than a hundred students have been treated for dehydration in Manila hospitals.