Thai authorities on Saturday warned residents throughout massive swathes of the nation, together with the capital Bangkok, to keep away from going outside on account of excessive warmth.
Components of Asia are reporting excessive warmth this month, with record-breaking temperatures seen in some international locations. In Bangladesh and components of India, excessive warmth is resulting in surge in energy demand, inflicting energy cuts and shortages for tens of millions of individuals.
Within the Bagna district of Bangkok, the temperature reached 100 levels Fahrenheit whereas the warmth index — which incorporates relative humidity and measures what the temperature seems like — hit a file 129F, based on the meteorological division.
Authorities warned residents to keep away from out of doors actions and be cautious of the hazard of warmth stroke.
“Generally, I take refuge within the 7-11 comfort retailer… to flee the warmth,” Amporn Supasert, 67, a grilled hen vendor in Bangkok, stated.
Thailand’s division of catastrophe prevention and mitigation stated that temperatures exceeded 104 F in no less than 28 provinces on Saturday.
Current excessive warmth has smashed electrical energy consumption information, with the nation consuming greater than 39,000 megawatts on April 6, surpassing the earlier file of 32,000 megawatts in April final yr, authorities spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri stated.
“What is going on proper now could be brought on by local weather change, influencing irregular (climate) and a phenomenon that is known as excessive climate,” Mathinee Yucharoen, a researcher of coastal oceanography and local weather change at Prince of Songkhla College, informed Reuters.