India's heatwaves: These maps put South Asia's scorching temperatures in perspective

Climate Crisis by Jennifer Walter May 3, 2022 NurPhoto/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Ivaylo Starchev / EyeEm/EyeEm/Getty Images The world is getting warmer on average, but some places bear the brunt of scorching temperatures more than others.

NurPhoto/NurPhoto/Getty Images India, Pakistan, and other countries in South Asia have seen brutal heat waves increase in frequency and intensity over the past decade.

This year, South Asia has experienced some of its highest recorded temperatures as heatwaves tear through the region.

NurPhoto/NurPhoto/Getty Images

March was India’s hottest month on record — the steamiest in 122 years.

JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images Millions of people are still enduring deadly temperatures as the country’s dry season continues, well before summer even officially starts in the Northern Hemisphere.

New Delhi, India’s capital, endured an entire week straight of hot, sticky temperatures over 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty Images In Pakistan, the city of Turbat repeatedly reached temperatures of up to 122 degrees in April.

Hindustan Times/Hindustan Times/Getty Images In fact, it got so hot for so long that garbage dumps in New Delhi caught fire , thanks to a build-up of methane gas that spontaneously combusted.

The ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellite captured surface temperatures of India from space on April 29. Some areas reached over 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

Air temperatures got up to 114.6 degrees Fahrenheit on April 27. Data from NASA’s GEOS-5 modeling system revealed temperatures across Asia and Africa on that day.

Joshua Stevens/NASA Earth Observatory

Shutterstock The heat isn’t just unbearable — periods of high temperatures can be deadly.

Shutterstock In 2015, a heatwave in India killed more than 2,000 people.

chuchart duangdaw/Moment/Getty Images Though death tolls remain to be seen from this year’s extreme heat, it's clear that rising temperatures are becoming increasingly difficult to bear.

chuchart duangdaw/Moment/Getty Images Recent studies predict that heat waves in South Asia will get more intense and frequent, especially if little to no action is taken against the climate crisis.

NurPhoto/NurPhoto/Getty Images "You can only adapt so much. This (2022) heatwave is testing the limits of human survivability." Chandni Singh, IPCC Lead Author and Senior Researcher at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, told CNN.