Intensifying temperatures cause water and food instability.

Rising temperatures, a direct outcome of climate change, are exacerbating water, food, and biodiversity insecurity in Pakistan and India, which may increase in the coming years, according to regional environmentalists.

A severe heatwave is currently spreading over the two nuclear-armed neighbors, with temperatures in Pakistan reaching 51 degrees Celsius (123.8 degrees Fahrenheit) and India reaching 49 degrees Celsius.

With forecasts suggesting that the heat wave would last for many days, environmentalists warn that the high temperatures may hasten glacier melting, causing crop and pasture damage and further shrinking of wetlands.

Already, melting glaciers are the primary target of climate change, as are rising temperatures, which will contribute to sea-level rise.

Aside from that, he continued, millions of people in the region, primarily in mountainous areas, who rely on cattle are suffering as a result of climate-induced pasture loss.

According to Mahesh Palawat, the chairman of India’s private weather agency Skymet, extraordinary temperatures in the country are the effect of climate change.

“There has been some reprieve now because of the western disturbances,” he said, adding that pre-monsoon weather activities are expected to begin soon.

According to Palawat, the heatwaves severely damaged India’s northwest and central regions, causing power outages and a water crisis in several areas.