Living Through South Asia’s Heatwave Crisis

Shazia Mehboob

Islamabad: In South Asia, summers are no longer just hot, they are relentless. Across Pakistan, Afghanistan,  Bangladesh, and India, rising temperatures and prolonged heatwaves are rapidly becoming the new normal. 

For millions, this is not a statistic; it is a daily fight to survive under the sun.

Farhan Yousaf, a man in his 35s running a poultry business in Kabul, knows this struggle intimately. Weeks of intense heat left him weak, dizzy, and wracked by sharp kidney pain, making even simple tasks unbearable. 

Local clinics, strained by years of conflict and limited resources, could only provide basic care.

“I felt dizzy, weak, constantly thirsty, and then the back pain started,” Yousaf recalls. “I couldn’t work, I couldn’t stand for long. 

Staying in Kabul was no longer an option for me.”

In Kabul, summer temperatures routinely climb between 38 and 42 °C, while southern provinces like Kandahar fare even worse. Dense neighbourhoods such as Dashte Barchi, with poor infrastructure and limited access to clean water, amplify the risks for residents.

Even when the weather seems mild, the threat is far from over. Heatwaves in South Asia are growing more frequent and intense, putting vulnerable populations like Yousaf at constant risk of dehydration, kidney damage, and other heat-related illnesses.

Their stories reveal a stark reality: the human cost of climate change is already here, simmering beneath the blazing sun.

Earth’s Climate More Unbalanced Than Ever, UN Warns

The Earth is heating faster and more unevenly than ever before, with long-lasting consequences for millions of people, according to a stark warning from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

The UN’s weather agency highlighted that all-time high concentrations of greenhouse gases are driving unprecedented temperature records on both land and sea, leaving the planet “more out of balance than at any time in observed history.”

“Between 2015 and 2025, we experienced the hottest 11 years on record,” said Ko Barrett, WMO’s deputy executive secretary. Last year alone saw global temperatures rise 1.43 °C above pre-industrial levels (1850–1900 baseline) while oceans recorded new heat extremes.

The impacts are visible everywhere. Glaciers are retreating, ice sheets continue to melt, and oceans are absorbing record amounts of heat, driving long-term sea level rise. Barrett emphasized that these changes are not abstract figures: they affect livelihoods, food security, and the safety of the most vulnerable populations around the world.

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WMO has tracked the global climate for over 30 years, but the recent decade’s records signal a dangerous acceleration. John Kennedy, the agency’s scientific officer, noted that the three key greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, reached record levels in 2024, marking the single-largest year-on-year increase. Early data from 2025 suggest the upward trend continues.

“This growing concentration of greenhouse gases is altering the Earth’s energy balance,” Kennedy explained. “Normally, incoming solar energy is balanced by outgoing energy. Now, more energy is trapped in the system, accumulating in the Earth’s atmosphere, land, and oceans.”

The oceans, which absorb around 90 percent of the excess energy, are a critical buffer. But for the three billion people dependent on marine and coastal resources, this warming poses a direct threat. Nearly 11 percent of the global population lives on low-lying coasts, increasingly exposed to flooding, storms, and other climate hazards.

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WMO’s findings serve as both a warning and a call to action. Barrett stressed the importance of lifesaving forecasts and early warnings to protect lives and livelihoods, urging governments and communities to prepare for the continuing climate crisis.

As the planet warms at an accelerating pace, the report underscores a clear message: the Earth’s climate is tipping into new, unstable territory—and the human and ecological stakes have never been higher. Layout designe by Shazia Mehboob.