The heat in Argentina is also a result of the heating up from climate change

Argentina reels from heat waves. Is this just because of La Nina? Read to find out more.

Another heatwave in Argentina, Credit, progressive Farmer

Heat rose above normal in Argentina during the first ten days of March, about eight to ten degrees Celsius over the 1991-2020 figures, with Buenos Aires experiencing highs above 30 degrees Celsius, and multiple other locations in the country getting their highest temperatures in the last sixty-three years during the month of March.

According to another report during the week, heat also rose above normal in India, with the India Metrological Department (IMD) announcing a heatwave in Mumbai after two weather stations recorded temperatures over 37 degrees Celsius, and some areas of the southern state of Kerala achieving a heat index of more than 54 degrees Celsius, and IMD issuing warnings of temperature increases of three to five degrees Celsius above normal from March to May, the authorities appealing to citizens to stay safe and hydrated and avoid going out in the afternoon.

In Brazil, the National Institute of Meteorology (INMET) issued an alert saying heat will rise above normal in the western parts of the country through March, with Artigas, western Durazno, Flores, Paysandu, Rio Negro, Salto, Soriano, and western Tacuarembo to be affected.

Though its early in the year, but the scenario of the past appears to be unfolding, and heat seems to be rising above normal at this period for nations such as Brazil, India, and Argentina, foreshadowing the pattern to be expected in other countries in the latter parts of the year, as evidences point towards a rapidly warming world.

During La Nina events, trade winds push warm water into Asia, and this has been happening for the third consecutive year in India, along with a strong anti-cyclonic circulation prevailing, bringing less than normal rainfalls and rising temperatures.

Argentina also experiences La Nina events, and it has lasted much longer than normal this time around, with the cooling of the central Pacific affecting the country’s summer, normally running from December to February, by far the hottest on record, according to Maximiliano Herrara, a climatologist who tracks extreme temperatures across the globe.

Along with La Nina events, climate change proves to be an important reason for why heat rises above normal in nations such as Argentina, Brazil, and India at this time of the year, with a group of scientist in December saying climate change makes record-breaking early season heat in Argentina and Paraguay 60 times more certain.

The La Nina event takes blame for the rising heat in India, Argentina, and Brazil, but climate change once again complicates the situation, and if the trend of the last few years serves as a pointer, temperature increases seem likely this year, especially with the onset of a La Nino event, which takes place at the end of the four-year circle of the La Nina experience.

Prices rose 102.5 percent in February compared to the year before in Argentina, the first time the country experiences such a situation in three decades, and the month marked the thirteenth straight month that the south American country reported a monthly inflation rate above four percent, a situation compounded by fears of crop losses, which totaled some ten billion dollars last year, fuelled by the La Nina cycle of the El Nino weather pattern, with Central Argentina in 2022 witnessing the driest year since 1960, as well as widespread crop failures.

The rate of yield decline rises by three to seven percent for every one degree Celsius rise in temperature in the agriculture industry in India, with crops such as wheat, soybean, mustard, groundnut, and potato affected, leading to rising inflation from shortage of commodities, a serious problem to a country home to 1.4 billion people and ranked 101 out of 116 countries in the Global Hunger Index.

The strain put on power grids during periods of scorching heat rises, and it’s no surprise that demand for electricity broke a new record of 29,105 megawatts in Argentina on March 13 at 3.29 p.m., despite 150,000 homes remaining without power in and around the capital, the heat rises making  projections for agriculture exports for 2023 to be in a steep decline due to drought across the fertile grasslands of the Pampas.

The present rises in heat will not only affect the inflation rate in Argentina, it also affects the pressure placed on the power grid, while India could face challenges in its agriculture sector through declining crop yields, leading to rising inflation, a condition that faces Brazil and Argentina already at this time of the year.

Though the  La Nina event  lies behind some of these problems, climate change can’t be exonerated,  and the single-most important thing that nations can do to combat climate change is to cut down the use  of fossil fuels, since the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas in our estates, industrial companies, cars, and airplanes brings  more than 75 percent  of emissions that are heating up the planet.

What to Eat

Indian vegan diet, Credit, The Normal Vegan