More than 100 temperature records fell across Vietnam in April, according to official data, as a deadly heatwave scorches South and Southeast Asia.
Extreme heat has blasted Asia from India to the Philippines, triggering heatstroke deaths, school closures and desperate prayers for cooling rain.
Scientists have long warned that human-induced climate change will produce more frequent, longer and intense heatwaves.
Vietnam saw three waves of high temperatures in April, according to data published on May 3 by the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, with the mercury peaking at 44 degrees Celsius in two towns earlier this week.
In all, 102 weather stations saw record highs in April, as northern and central Vietnam bore the brunt of the heatwave, with temperatures on average 2-4 degrees Celsius higher than during the same period last year. Seven stations recorded temperatures above 43 degrees Celsius, all on April 30.
The most dramatic sign of the extreme weather hitting Vietnam came in the southern province of Dong Nai, where hundreds of thousands of fish died in a reservoir.
A fisherman collects dead fish caused by renovation works and the ongoing hot weather conditions from a reservoir in southern Vietnam’s Dong Nai province on April 30, 2024. Hundreds of thousands of fish have died in a reservoir in Vietnam’s Dong Nai province, with locals and media reports suggesting the brutal heatwave and lake’s management are to blame. | Photo Credit: AFP
Images showed locals wading and boating through the 300-hectare Song May reservoir, with the water barely visible beneath a blanket of dead fish.
The mass die-off was blamed on water shortages caused by the heatwave and poor management.
The Vietnamese weather agency is predicting more hot weather in May, with temperatures expected to be 1.5 to 2.5 degrees higher than in previous years.
El Nino effect
While April and May are normally the hottest time of year in Southeast Asia, experts say the El Nino effect is making this year’s heat particularly intense.
Bangladesh and Myanmar saw April heat records broken, heatstroke has killed at least 30 people in Thailand since the start of the year, and high temperatures were partly blamed for a deadly explosion at a Cambodian ammunition dump.
Roman Catholic bishops in the Philippines are urging the faithful to pray for rain and lower temperatures, after the heat forced the government to close tens of thousands of schools.
The Indian megacity of Kolkata has sweltered through punishing heat, peaking at 43 degrees Celsius for the city’s hottest single April day since 1954.
Even mountainous Nepal has been hit, with the government issuing health warnings last week and firefighters battling unusually severe wildfires.
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