Scientists in India and Pakistan say
higher temperatures were just one factor behind the recent heatwaves
and other causes have yet to be established.
They say low air
pressure, high humidity and an unusually absent wind played key roles in
making the heat unbearable but they do not know why such conditions
prevailed at this time of the year.The temperature forecast for the heatwave peak in Karachi last week was 43C, according to meteorologists in Pakistan.
The prediction was accurate but other factors made the heat feel unbearable, they say.
More than 1,000 people have died in Pakistan in the worst heatwave in three decades.
In neighbouring India, the official death figure exceeded 2,000, although reported cases were put at more than 3,000.
"In Karachi, it felt like 49C and that is what we call the heat index," said Muhammad Hanif, director of Pakistan's National Weather Forecasting Centre.
"The heat index was higher than the actual temperature because air pressure was quite low and the humidity was very high in that area.
"The low pressure, which is very unusual in the month of June in that part of Pakistan, totally cut off the sea breeze and made the heat unbearably high."
India investigates
Indian scientists are also seeing unusual meteorological conditions."Coastal regions (ease) the heating process by settling in the sea breeze during late evenings which minimises the accumulated stress on the human body," said LS Rathore, director general of the Indian Meteorological Department.
"This year, that did not happen, and what we had was basically a prolonged continental heating."
The climate change chief at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, R Krishnan, said there was a limited scientific explanation for this.
"The sustained warming persisting for several days is linked with atmospheric circulation changes.
"We don't know what is driving those circulation patterns which are producing some kind of descending motion and maintaining the warm conditions."
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