The year 2024 has been recorded as the hottest year on record, with worldwide average temperatures exceeding the 1.5-degree Celsius target of global warming set in the UN Paris agreement from 2016, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
At a forum in Singapore in early January, Dr. Aurel Moise of the Center for Climate Research Singapore (CCRS) said that Southeast Asia faces more extreme rainfalls, dry spells, and daily maximum temperatures.
In April last year, Magwe Region’s Chauk recorded a temperature of 48.2 degrees Celsius, while the mercury in Yangon rose over 40 degrees.
At least 1,473 people reportedly died in Myanmar from heat-related causes that month. That was almost six times more than in 2010, when 260 heat-related deaths were recorded during the summer months, according to the Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS).