India and Pakistan already sweltering in ‘new normal’ heatwave conditions. Temperatures south Asians dread each year arrive early as experts talk of ever shorter transition to summer-like heat

 

A volunteer sprays water on a passerby's face to cool him off on an unusually hot April day in Karachi, Pakistan. Photograph: Asif Hassan/AFP/Getty Images

 Penelope MacRae in Delhi

 

 The summer conditions south Asian countries dread each year have arrived alarmingly early, and it’s only April. Much of India and Pakistan is already sweltering in heatwave conditions, in what scientists say is fast becoming the “new normal”.

Temperatures in the region typically climb through May, peaking in June before the monsoon brings relief. But this year, the heat has come early. “As far as Asia and the Indian subcontinent are concerned, there was a quick transition from a short window of spring conditions to summer-like heat,” said GP Sharma, the meteorology president of Skymet, India’s leading private forecaster.

South Asia, home to 1.9 billion people, is particularly vulnerable. Many live in areas highly exposed to extreme heat and lack access to basic cooling, healthcare or water.

 

In Delhi, where spring usually offers a short spell of mild temperatures, thermometers have risen past 40C in April – “up to 5C above the seasonal average” – according to a report by ClimaMeter, a platform that tracks extreme weather events.

“Human-driven climate change” is to blame for the “dangerous” kind of heat seen in recent weeks, it said.

“These spring heatwaves are not anomalies. They’re signals. We need to move beyond awareness into action,” said Gianmarco Mengaldo, a climate expert at the National University of Singapore and co-author of the report.

Delhi authorities urged schools to cancel afternoon assemblies on Tuesday and issued emergency guidelines to ensure water breaks and stocks of oral rehydration salts in first aid kits, and to treat any signs of heat stress immediately.

Delhi commuters on their way to work on an unusually hot April day. Photograph: Harish Tyagi/EPA

Temperatures in Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, hit 44C, triggering heatstroke reports among construction workers and farmers. Other states are also grappling with intense heat.

The Indian Meteorological Department has reported an “above-normal number of heatwave days”. Temperatures are expected to climb steadily across the subcontinent, with the highest readings forecast for Wednesday and Thursday.

Pakistan is also reeling. In the city of Shaheed Benazirabad in Sindh province, the mercury has soared to 50C – nearly 8.5C above the April average. In other parts of the country, temperatures have hovered in the high 40s.

“What was once considered rare has become alarmingly common, as climate change accelerates the frequency and severity of such events,” said an editorial in the Pakistani newspaper Dawn. The country “remains woefully unprepared for the escalating climate crisis”, it said.

Urban heat is making things worse. Data comparing 1950–1986 with 1987–2023 shows that cities such as Delhi and Islamabad are now up to 3C hotter on average than nearby rural areas.

Children cool off in water from a leaking pipeline in Hyderabad, Pakistan. Photograph: Akram Shahid/AFP/Getty Images

“When it comes to heatwaves, the question is no longer if they are linked to climate change, but what kind of thresholds we are reaching,” said Mengaldo. “Preparedness is essential. But right now, our infrastructure is not well adapted.”

Natural climate variability such as the El Niño cycle can affect regional weather, but it is now in a neutral phase.

ClimaMeter said: “Compared to pre-1986 levels, similar meteorological conditions now produce temperatures up to 4C higher – almost entirely due to human-driven climate change.”

 

South Asia is not alone. “In the northern hemisphere spring months, we are already seeing conditions in parts of the Middle East that are incompatible with human life,” said Mengaldo.

“This is very serious for the populations … we also expect summer temperatures in Spain and France to reach unprecedented levels in the next few years,” he said. “Many of the events predicted for 2050 or 2070 are already happening. We underestimated the speed of change. What we’re seeing now is an acceleration – a failure of our predictive models.”

David Faranda, a senior climate scientist with the French National Centre for Scientific Research and co-author of the report, said: “The only sustainable solution is to stop burning fossil fuels and reduce emissions. Without drastically reducing emissions and building climate resilience through better insulation, use of green energy, and other moves, the implications are alarming.”

“Even if we act now, the climate system will take decades – sometimes over a century – to cool down,” Mengaldo added. “The sea level rise is already locked in for hundreds of years.”

Both researchers stressed economic inequality and infrastructure played a critical role in determining who survives extreme heat. “There are different temperature thresholds – actual temperature, [humidity index] and others,” said Mengaldo. “Economic levels play a huge role in how people can cope and sustain themselves.”

Delhi has updated its heat action plan, focusing on vulnerable groups such as elderly people, construction workers, and street vendors. But implementation is inconsistent.

Faranda said adaptation was increasingly unaffordable for many heat-prone countries, with electricity grids buckling and causing widespread power cuts. “When multiple events occur, there’s often no escape,” he said.

Mengaldo highlighted the need for innovation: “We need better-insulated housing, materials that prevent energy loss, and architectural designs that promote natural cooling. These can significantly reduce energy demand during extreme heat.”

Faranda also said people must change their lifestyles. “Energy demand keeps increasing. If we want to survive the coming decades, we must not only build more renewables but also reduce energy consumption overall: through lifestyle changes, efficient architecture, and better materials.”

A Planned E.U. Rule Has Coffee Growers in Ethiopia Scrambling

Farmers gathered ripe coffee cherries in the Sidama region of Ethiopia. Credit...Maheder Haileselassie/Reuters

 

The measure will require geolocation data to show that beans aren’t linked to deforestation. Farmers say they need more time to prepare.

 By Shola Lawal

Farmers in Africa that produce some of the world’s most prized coffee are in a scramble to comply with new European Union environmental rules that require them to document the origin of every shipment of beans.

The new measure, coming into force at the end of this year, is designed to prevent deforestation driven by agricultural expansion. To comply, farmers must provide geolocation data to show that their coffee was not grown on land where forests have recently been cut down.

After Dec. 31, any producers that cannot will lose access to the vast European market.

Europe consumes more coffee than any country or bloc in the world and experts say the new rule, formally known as the E.U. Deforestation Regulation, is a potentially powerful tool to promote sustainable agriculture and prevent forest destruction.

But it also represents what some are calling a “green squeeze” that imposes heavy burdens on millions of small farmers in developing countries that have contributed the least to climate change, and tests ability of policymakers to balance the needs of people and the needs of nature.

“Of course data is very important to us, but what we are just saying is we need support,” said Dejene Dadi, head of the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union. “It’s very challenging and costly and we don’t have any help.”

Mr. Dadi said his group, the largest coffee growers’ cooperative in Ethiopia, with more than half a million members based in the central part of the country, probably could not prepare all its farms by the deadline without additional support.

Trainers have traversed the Oromia region for more than a year, collecting coordinates for maps and helping farmers with new technology. As of March, they had mapped 24,000 farms. European officials will verify shipments by cross-checking current geolocation data against base line satellite images and forest cover maps.

Mr. Dadi said the cost of mapping one farm was about $4.50. The cost of training is partly covered by a grant form the International Trade Center, a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization that was created to help poor countries expand trade.

Ethiopia is the top coffee producer in Africa, and the crop accounts for about 35 percent of the country’s revenue. The arabica variety, smooth and mild with fruity and nutty notes, originated in the country’s southwestern highlands. More than a third of Ethiopia’s coffee goes to Europe.

Coffee accounts for about 35 percent of the Ethiopia’s revenue.Credit...Syspeo/SIPA, via Shutterstock

 

 

According to a French government report last year, E.U. consumption is responsible for 44 percent of coffee-related deforestation worldwide. Another report, by the World Resources Institute, an environmental group, found that nearly two million hectares of forest cover had been replaced by coffee plantations between 2001 and 2025. Indonesia, Brazil and Peru recorded some of the highest deforestation rates in that period.

Global leaders pledged in 2021 at a climate summit in Glasgow to end deforestation by 2030. The agreement underscored a growing awareness of the role of nature in tackling the climate crisis. Intact forests are natural storehouses of planet-warming carbon, keeping it out of the atmosphere, where, as carbon dioxide, it speeds warming by trapping the sun’s heat. When forests are cleared, those areas switch to releasing greenhouse gases. It also harms the forest’s biodiversity, its variety of life, by disrupting habitat.

The new E.U. rule also covers cattle, cocoa, palm oil, rubber and other crops. Coffee shipments without proper mapping data can be rejected or confiscated, and the importer can be fined.

But some experts say the measure is being implemented without the necessary support for farmers.

Jodie Keane, an economist at ODI Global, a research organization based in London, said the European Union and major coffee chains should do more to help small farmers.

“We all want to prevent deforestation,” Ms. Keane said. “But if you’re going to apply that standard to rural producers, you’re going to have to provide a lot of outreach, sensitization, you’re going to have to invest in learning how to do things differently so that they don’t just get dropped from the supply chain.”

Etelle Higonet, founder of Coffee Watch, a monitoring group, echoed that. “These are some of the richest companies in the world,” she said of European coffee chains. “Of course they could afford to do this.”

In an email, Johannes Dengler, a managing partner at Alois Dallmayr, one of the best-known coffee brands in Germany, acknowledged that the new rule was an “enormous challenge” for Ethiopia. He said Dallmayr was developing systems to assure compliance and was “working closely with our partners to find viable solutions.”

The office of the European Union commissioner for trade and economic security did not respond to requests for comment. In a news release on April 15 the bloc said that, based on feedback from partner countries, it had allocated 86 million euros, or about $97 million, to support compliance efforts.

Ethiopian coffee farmers take pride in their high-quality beans, a result of exceptional heirloom varieties, high altitudes and traditional farming practices.

In the southwestern Jimma Highlands, farmers like Zinabu Abadura say most growers follow a longstanding unwritten rule against cutting trees.

Mr. Abadura, who sells directly to informal middlemen, said his farm has not yet been mapped. Most farmers in his area live off their coffee proceeds and cannot afford disruptions or additional expenses. “Life will be difficult,” when the new European rule comes into force, he said.

Farm workers prepared coffee beans for roasting at a cooperative in Sidama.Credit...Maheder Haileselassie/Reuters

 

 

But while the new E.U. standards could reorder the Ethiopian coffee sector, analysts say, they probably will not halt sales.

Countries like China offer alternative, less-rigid markets. And Ethiopians themselves are big coffee drinkers. Hospitality is incomplete without a coffee ceremony, where hosts roast, grind and brew beans in front of their guests. About half of the country’s yearly coffee production stays at home.

But Tsegaye Anebo, who heads the Sidama Coffee Union, which represents 70,000 farmers, said pivoting to new markets would be disruptive in the short term. He noted that his region’s Sidamo variety, distinctive for its fruity tones, was a favorite in wealthy Europe. And that means premium prices.

Giving up on the E.U. market, he said, is not an option.

“We need the E.U.,” Mr. Anebo said. “But they also need us because they can’t find our coffee anywhere.”

Munira Abdelmenan contributed reporting.

Days of severe storms leave 18 dead as rising rivers threaten US south and midwest

 Severe storm causes flooding in Kentucky’s Casey county on Friday. Photograph: Ryan C Hermens/TNS/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock

Associated Press

 Power and gas shut off in regions as flooding worsens, threatening waterlogged and badly damaged communities 

 

After days of intense rain and wind killed at least 18 people in the US south and midwest, rivers rose and flooding worsened on Sunday in those regions, threatening waterlogged and badly damaged communities.

Utility companies scrambled to shut off power and gas from Texas to Ohio while cities closed roads and deployed sandbags to protect homes and businesses.

In Kentucky, downtown Frankfort, the state’s capital, was inundated.

“As long as I’ve been alive – and I’m 52 – this is the worst I’ve ever seen it,” said Wendy Quire, the general manager at the Brown Barrel restaurant.

As the swollen Kentucky river kept rising on Sunday, officials closed roads and turned off power and gas to businesses in the city built around it, Quire said. “The rain just won’t stop,” she said. “It’s been nonstop for days and days.”

 

The ongoing, global climate crisis is bringing heavier rainfall and related flood risks to most parts of the US, with the upper midwest and Ohio River valley among the regions most affected, according to Climate Central, an independent non-profit that researches weather patterns.

Forecasters warned that flooding could persist for days, as torrential rains lingered over many states, including Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama. Tornadoes are possible in Alabama, Georgia and Florida, forecasters said.

The 18 reported deaths since the start of the storms on Wednesday included 10 in Tennessee. A nine-year-old boy in Kentucky was caught up in floodwaters while walking to catch his school bus. A five-year-old boy in Arkansas died after a tree fell on his family’s home and trapped him, police said. A 16-year-old volunteer firefighter in Missouri died in a crash while seeking to rescue people caught in the storm.

 

The National Weather Service (NWS) said on Sunday dozens of locations in multiple states were expected to reach a “major flood stage”, with extensive flooding of structures, roads, bridges and other critical infrastructure possible.

There were 521 domestic and international flights cancelled within the US, and more than 6,400 were delayed on Saturday, according to FlightAware.com. The website reported 74 cancellations and 478 delays of US flights early on Sunday.

The storms come after Donald Trump’s administration has cut jobs at NWS forecast offices, leaving half of them with vacancy rates of about 20%, or double the level of a decade ago.

Officials warned of flash flooding and tornadoes on Saturday across Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky. All of eastern Kentucky was under a flood watch through Sunday morning.

In north-central Kentucky, emergency officials ordered a mandatory evacuation for Falmouth and Butler, towns near the bend of the rising Licking river. Thirty years ago, the river reached a record 50ft (15 meters), resulting in five deaths and 1,000 homes destroyed.

The NWS said 5.06in (nearly 13 cm) of rain fell on Saturday in Jonesboro, Arkansas – making it the wettest day ever recorded in April in the city, dating back to 1893.

As of early Sunday, Memphis had received 14in (35cm) of rain since Wednesday, the NWS said. West Memphis, Arkansas, received 10in (25cm).

Forecasters attributed the violent weather to warm temperatures, an unstable atmosphere, strong winds and abundant moisture streaming from the Gulf.

In Dyersburg, Tennessee, dozens of people arrived on Saturday at a storm shelter near a public school in the rain, clutching blankets, pillows and other necessities.

Among them was George Manns, 77, who said he was in his apartment when he heard a tornado warning and decided to head to the shelter. Just days earlier the city was hit by a tornado that caused millions of dollars in damage.

“I grabbed all my stuff and came here,” said Mann, who brought a folding chair, two bags of toiletries, laptops, iPads and medications. “I don’t leave them in my apartment in case my apartment is destroyed. I have to make sure I have them with me.”

Guardian staff contributed reporting

 

 

Climate crisis on track to destroy capitalism, warns top insurer. Action urgently needed to save the conditions under which markets – and civilisation itself – can operate, says senior Allianz figure

Some companies were ending home insurance in California due to wildfires, says Allianz SE board member. He says that without insurance, many other financial services become unviable, from mortgages to investments. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

The climate crisis is on track to destroy capitalism, a top insurer has warned, with the vast cost of extreme weather impacts leaving the financial sector unable to operate.

The world is fast approaching temperature levels where insurers will no longer be able to offer cover for many climate risks, said Günther Thallinger, on the board of Allianz SE, one of the world’s biggest insurance companies. He said that without insurance, which is already being pulled in some places, many other financial services become unviable, from mortgages to investments.

Global carbon emissions are still rising and current policies will result in a rise in global temperature between 2.2C and 3.4C above pre-industrial levels. The damage at 3C will be so great that governments will be unable to provide financial bailouts and it will be impossible to adapt to many climate impacts, said Thallinger, who is also the chair of the German company’s investment board and was previously CEO of Allianz Investment Management.

 

The core business of the insurance industry is risk management and it has long taken the dangers of global heating very seriously. In recent reports, Aviva said extreme weather damages for the decade to 2023 hit $2tn, while GallagherRE said the figure was $400bn in 2024. Zurich said it was “essential” to hit net zero by 2050.

Thallinger said: “The good news is we already have the technologies to switch from fossil combustion to zero-emission energy. The only thing missing is speed and scale. This is about saving the conditions under which markets, finance, and civilisation itself can continue to operate.”

Nick Robins, the chair of the Just Transition Finance Lab at the London School of Economics, said: “This devastating analysis from a global insurance leader sets out not just the financial but also the civilisational threat posed by climate change. It needs to be the basis for renewed action, particularly in the countries of the global south.”

 

“The insurance sector is a canary in the coalmine when it comes to climate impacts,” said Janos Pasztor, former UN assistant secretary-general for climate change.

The argument set out by Thallinger in a LinkedIn post begins with the increasingly severe damage being caused by the climate crisis: “Heat and water destroy capital. Flooded homes lose value. Overheated cities become uninhabitable. Entire asset classes are degrading in real time.”

“We are fast approaching temperature levels – 1.5C, 2C, 3C – where insurers will no longer be able to offer coverage for many of these risks,” he said. “The math breaks down: the premiums required exceed what people or companies can pay. This is already happening. Entire regions are becoming uninsurable.” He cited companies ending home insurance in California due to wildfires.

Thallinger said it was a systemic risk “threatening the very foundation of the financial sector”, because a lack of insurance means other financial services become unavailable: “This is a climate-induced credit crunch.”

“This applies not only to housing, but to infrastructure, transportation, agriculture, and industry,” he said. “The economic value of entire regions – coastal, arid, wildfire-prone – will begin to vanish from financial ledgers. Markets will reprice, rapidly and brutally. This is what a climate-driven market failure looks like.”

 

No governments will realistically be able to cover the damage when multiple high-cost events happen in rapid succession, as climate models predict, Thallinger said. Australia’s disaster recovery spending has already increased sevenfold between 2017 and 2023, he noted.

The idea that billions of people can just adapt to worsening climate impacts is a “false comfort”, he said: “There is no way to ‘adapt’ to temperatures beyond human tolerance … Whole cities built on flood plains cannot simply pick up and move uphill.”

At 3C of global heating, climate damage cannot be insured against, covered by governments, or adapted to, Thallinger said: “That means no more mortgages, no new real estate development, no long-term investment, no financial stability. The financial sector as we know it ceases to function. And with it, capitalism as we know it ceases to be viable.”

The only solution was to cut fossil fuel burning, or capture the emissions, he said, with everything else being a delay or distraction. He said capitalism must solve the crisis, starting with putting its sustainability goals on the same level as financial goals.

Many financial institutions have moved away from climate action after the election of the US president, Donald Trump, who has called such action a “green scam”. Thallinger said in February: “The cost of inaction is higher than the cost of transformation and adaptation. If we succeed in our transition, we will enjoy a more efficient, competitive economy [and] a higher quality of life.”