Of course single events cannot be used to either refute or confirm evidence that average global temperatures have been rising for 200 years.
The heat engulfing Pakistan, however, has stretched to India, where more than 1,000 people have reportedly died of heatstroke or heart attacks in the past two months. Record or wellabove temperatures have been recorded in Tibet and Burma.
Southern Europe has warmed rapidly this month. Thirteen provinces in southern Spain are on “yellow alert” after meteorologists forecast temperatures rising to 38C in places like Seville.
With high sea surface temperatures, the Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be one of the worst for years. Lake Tanganyika in Africa is now at its warmest in 1,500 years, threatening the fishing industry on which millions depend. The average global temperature for March was a record 13.5C.
Huge efforts have gone into solving the economic crisis in Greece, which might spread like wildfire to countries like Portugal and perhaps Britain.
But last year real wildfires burned thousands of hectares in Greece and Portugal, plus Spain, France and Italy and 20,000 people died in the European heatwave of 2003.
Where are the crisis measures to change our lifestyles and stop burning fossil fuels in order to prevent heatwaves and wildfires becoming more frequent and even more severe in the future? The walls of your house may be crumbling, but once a fire starts your first priority is to put out the fire.
Mendip Avenue, Stafford
