Vietnam recorded a record temperature of 44.1 degrees Celsius on Saturday at a weather station in the north of the country, an extreme phenomenon that is set to happen again, scientists say.
This survey was carried out by a station in Thanh Hoa province (central-north), said the National Center for Hydrometeorological Forecasting.
“A disturbing record”
This figure beats the previous national record of 43.4 degrees Celsius, recorded on April 20, 2019 in Huong Khe district, central Ha Tinh province.
“This is a worrying record in the context of climate change and global warming,” climate science expert Nguyen Ngoc Huy said from the capital Hanoi.
“I think this record will be broken many times over,” he added. “It confirms that extreme climate models are proving to be accurate.”
The hottest months
Scientists have shown that global warming exacerbates extreme weather conditions.
Farmer Nguyen Thi Lan said temperatures in central Danang city are getting hotter, forcing farm workers to start their day earlier and earlier. “We had to finish before 10 a.m. to avoid the heat,” she said.
Vietnam’s climate varies from north to south, but the whole country is now entering its hottest months. Across the country, weather experts and authorities have advised people to stay indoors during the hottest hours of the day.
Heat wave
Danang Municipality has asked the government for help “to deal effectively with the heat, possible drought and lack of water”, according to state media.
The authorities also asked the city’s water company to ensure that the water supply for domestic uses is sufficient. By noon on Saturday, downtown Hanoi was almost empty, with many people staying indoors to avoid the sun.
South Asia suffered from a heat wave for most of April, and neighboring countries also recorded record high temperatures. Thailand’s meteorological agency reported a record high of 44.6°C in the western province of Tak. In Burma, the media reported that a city in the east of the country recorded a maximum of 43.8°C.
Temperatures three to four degrees above normal
Further west, Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, which has long suffered the effects of climate change, recorded its highest temperature since the 1960s.
In India, meteorological authorities said parts of the country were experiencing temperatures three to four degrees above normal.
A recent report by United Nations climate experts (IPCC) pointed out that each increase in global warming intensifies major natural risks (heat waves, extreme rainfall, droughts, etc.).