New Delhi — It’s still spring but hundreds of millions of people across South and Southeast Asia have already faced scorching hot temperatures. The summer heat has arrived early, setting records and even claiming lives, and it’s expected to get much worse through May and June as summer actually begins.
At the beginning of May, severe heat waves were already blamed for nearly three dozen deaths across the vast region. Schools have been forced to close weeks ahead of summer vacations and huge swaths of new crops have withered in parched farmland.
Scientists warn of wide-ranging impacts in some of the world’s most densely populated regions, and they’re urging governments to take immediate action to prepare for the impact of climate change and do whatever is possible to mitigate human-caused global warming.
What’s happening, and where?
Several parts of India recorded maximum temperatures over 110…