Key developments
South Asia heatwave turns deadly
A record-breaking heatwave is pushing temperatures across India, Pakistan and Bangladesh into the 45C to 50C range, disrupting daily life for hundreds of millions. India's meteorological agency expects more heatwave days along the east coast and Gujarat this month, while Karachi hit 44C, its highest since 2018, and local emergency services reported at least 10 deaths.
Why it matters
Extreme heat is already causing deaths and could intensify public-health, labor and grid stress across a huge population center.
Sources & driving stories
AL JAZEERA · Usaid Siddiqui
Al Jazeera coverageNew South Wales logs second-driest April
The Bureau of Meteorology says New South Wales received just 13% of its average April rainfall, the state's second-lowest total after 1997, and rainfall was below average across every Australian state. Officials blamed persistent high pressure and warned that likely El Niño development, very low soil moisture and Murray-Darling Basin storages at 48% are setting up a drier winter and spring.
Why it matters
A dry-year setup raises bushfire and agricultural risk across eastern and southern Australia.
Sources & driving stories
THE GUARDIAN
The Guardian coverageStudy says prescribed burns cut wildfire losses
A Science study covering 285 wildfires in 11 western U.S. states from 2017 to 2023 found that treated areas saw 36% less land burned overall and 26% less moderate-to-high severity fire. The researchers estimated $1.4 billion in avoided smoke-related health and productivity losses, $895 million in structural damage and $503 million in CO2 emissions, or about $3.73 in avoided harm per dollar spent, with larger treatments over 2,400 acres the most cost-effective. The paper did not count emissions from the prescribed burns themselves.
Why it matters
The findings strengthen the case for prevention-first wildfire policy and fuel management spending.
Sources & driving stories
MOTHER JONES · Tik Root
Mother Jones coverageWorth noting
WORTH NOTING
Microsoft hourly target may slip
A reported change to Microsoft's 2030 hour-by-hour clean-electricity goal would matter for corporate climate accounting and grid investment signals.
WORTH NOTING
Bering Strait dam could bolster AMOC
A new model-based geoengineering concept suggests closing the strait might slow AMOC weakening, but the ecological and geopolitical trade-offs are highly uncertain.
Still unclear
OPEN QUESTION
Will El Niño actually develop?
BoM's dry-year outlook depends on it, but the seasonal forecast still carries significant uncertainty at this time of year.
OPEN QUESTION
Do prescribed burns stay net-positive with burn emissions?
The new wildfire study did not count the emissions from the prescribed burns themselves, which could change the economics.