JAKARTADAILY.ID – The Asian heat wave is ongoing, but Indonesia has not been hit as hard as other countries.
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported that the highest temperature in Indonesia is 36°C, below the heat wave temperature in various Asian countries which can reach 40°C.
Despite this, BMKG Head Dwikorita Karnawati called on the public to remain vigilant. "Since last week until today, most of the countries in South Asia are still affected by heat waves," Karnawati said in a written statement.
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Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Myanmar, India, China, Thailand, and Laos have reported temperatures above 40°C, with new maximum temperature records being set in the region.
The China Meteorological Agency (CMA) reported that more than 100 weather stations in China recorded the highest temperature in the history of instrument observations for this April.
In Japan, "unbelievable heat" has also been observed in recent days. In Kumarkhali, a city in Kusthia district, Bangladesh, the daily maximum temperature was recorded at 51.2°C on April 17, 2023, making it the hottest area. The other 10 hottest cities in Asia are mostly in Myanmar and India.
The heat in April in the Asian region is climatologically influenced by the apparent motion of the sun. However, the heat spike in the South Asian sub-continent, the Indochina region, and East Asia in 2023 is one of the most significant spikes. Climate experts have concluded that the trend of global warming and climate change has contributed to making heat waves more likely to occur more frequently.
Heat waves occur in areas located in the middle to high latitudes, in the Northern Hemisphere, and in the Southern Hemisphere, in geographical areas that have or are adjacent to land masses with a large area or continental or sub-continental area. Indonesia, located in the equatorial region, is surrounded by vast waters.
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Heat waves usually occur in association with the development of weather patterns of high atmospheric pressure systems in an area with a large area that is persistent for several days. These heat waves are associated with Rossby wave activity in the upper troposphere.
In terms of statistical indicators of event temperature, a heatwave in weather and climate science is defined as a period of weather with an unusual increase in hot temperatures that lasts at least five consecutive days or more.
For weather phenomena included as a heat wave category, a location must record a daily maximum temperature that exceeds a statistical threshold, for example, 5 degrees Celsius hotter than the climatological average maximum temperature. If the maximum temperature occurs within the average range and does not last long, then it is not categorized as a heat wave.
