Reports from across Asia of record summer temperatures not just endorse dire predictions of climate scientists but highlight just how difficult life might become in the weeks to come.

The continent recorded its hottest April this year, and several countries have seen the mercury touch notches on the thermometer that it never had before. Vietnam reported the highest ever reading of 44.2 deg C, Laos grappled with unbearable heat and the Philippines drastically curtailed classroom hours to spare children the brutality of weather conditions. Malaysia, the world’s largest producer of palm oil, is predicted to have 40 per cent less rainfall which will hit production.

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Experts warn that the return of a weather condition known as El Nino, which emanates from warmer than normal waters in the Pacific Ocean around the equator and can impact weather patterns around the world, is exacerbating the summer heat. One estimate says that increased greenhouse gas emissions provoke extreme El Nino conditions once in a decade, and some experts feel that the world, but especially Asia, may be in the line of such an event.

This cannot be good news for governments across the continent because extreme heat conditions pose a threat to public health, while raising demands for power as people struggle to find ways to cope with the heat, and for water. For instance, as it grappled with heat it had seldom experienced before, Thailand last month consumed more electricity on a single day than it ever had before. At another level, unpredictable weather conditions can play havoc with agriculture.

The unseasonal rain and hail over parts of India in March damaged ready-to-harvest wheat, gram and mustard crops, and according to one estimate, 20 per cent of the mango crop that was ready for plucking. As the continent enters uncharted territory, it is becoming increasingly clear that the climate emergency that was spoken of at high tables until some time ago has now become a reality. The consequences cannot be far behind.

The past eight years were the hottest recorded in history, and it seems 2023 is poised to be hotter still. Expectedly it is the poor who will suffer and water scarcities are likely to exacerbate tensions between communities and countries. Lesser rainfall, for instance, will hit countries in the lower Mekong region such as Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam and even as some of them accuse China of water hoarding by building more and more dams, the impacts of reduced flows will hit both fishing and agriculture.

Closer home, the South Asian region has already felt the impacts of climate change, with unprecedented floods causing havoc in Pakistan last year. There is only a point up to which our leaders will be able to distract us with their shenanigans; unless ameliorative measures are taken fast, they may find themselves submerged by a flood of anger.