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Asia's severe April heat worsened by environment modification, researchers state

Extreme temperature levels throughout Asia last month were worsened and more likely as a result of humandriven environment change, a group of global scientists said on Wednesday.

Billions of people throughout the continent were affected by record-breaking temperature levels throughout April, with schools forced to shut down, crops damaged and numerous people eliminated by heat-related health problems, climate professionals from the World Weather condition Attribution group said in a report.

Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam experienced their hottest April days on record, while temperature levels in India reached as high as 46 degrees Celsius (114.8 Fahrenheit), they stated.

From Gaza to Delhi to Manila, people suffered and died when April temperature levels skyrocketed in Asia, said Friederike Otto, Senior Citizen Lecturer in Climate Science at the Grantham Institute of Environment Change and the Environment, among the report's authors.

Heatwaves have actually constantly happened. The additional heat, driven by emissions from coal, oil and gas, is resulting in death for many people.

In the Philippines, one of the worst-hit nations, authorities released health warnings, closed down schools and allocated electrical energy materials as skyrocketing temperatures threatened the country's power grid.

The 15-day heatwave, which began in the middle of the month, would have been essentially impossible, even under El Nino conditions without the effect of manufactured international warming, the report stated.

Parts of the Middle East saw record-breaking temperature levels over April 24-26, with Tel Aviv striking 40.7 C. Extreme temperatures in western Asia were made 5 times most likely by environment modification, the report approximated.

The heat that we saw is actually intensifying a currently dire crisis at the minute in Gaza, Carolina Pereira Marghidan of the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre said at a briefing on Tuesday.

Temperatures around India's Kolkata in late April reached 46C, 10C higher than the seasonal average, with climate change making severe temperature levels throughout South Asia around 45 times most likely, the report included.

Asian federal governments require to do something about it to adapt to soaring temperatures and minimise health risks, particularly in susceptible sections of the population, stated Marghidan.

Thinking about that rate at which severe heat is increasing ... we see a huge requirement for heat action prepares to be scaled up and current plans to be improved throughout Asia, she said.

(source: Reuters)