Rising temperatures and killer heatwaves around the world

A deadly heatwave has claimed at least 1,150 lives in Pakistan, even though a sea breeze brought some much-needed respite, lowering temperatures in the port city of Karachi.

The extreme heat went as high as 44 deg C - the highest temperature recorded in the country since 1981. Power outages also left many without fans, water or light at the beginning of Ramadan, when many Muslims do not eat or drink during daylight hours.

People attempt to cool off near a damaged water pipe in Karachi, Pakistan on June 25, 2015. PHOTO: EPA

Earlier in May, a heatwave in India also took thousands of lives. Maximum temperature in the southern states Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, which account for a third of India's poultry output, rose above 47 deg C in the last week of May.

Hospitals in India battled to treat victims as the death toll rose above 2,000 - the highest number recorded in two decades.

A boy catches fish in a dried-up pond near the banks of the Ganges river in Allahabad, India on June 4, 2015. PHOTO: REUTERS

The fiery temperatures prompted Spain's national weather office to put the region of Cordoba on red alert, the highest level on the scale, meaning the weather posed an "extreme risk" to health.

China's meteorological authority issued a yellow warning for high temperature in the country's southern regions on Sunday, June 28. A heatwave is expected to sweep across most of the south of China with rising temperatures reaching 39 deg C in some areas.

Students escaping the heat and sleeping in Central China Normal University Gymnasium, in Wuhan, on June 29, 2015. The highest temperature in Wuhan peaked at 35 degrees Celcius PHOTO: CHINAFOTOPRESS
A commuter waiting for a bus at Macritchie fans himself to try and keep cool in the early afternoon heat on June 30, 2015. ST PHOTO: MALCOLM MCLEOD
A school girl walking past the basketball court at Mountbatten Community Club on June 30, 2015. ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
A woman cooling off with a fan during a heatwave in Madrid on June 28, 2015. PHOTO: AFP
A fan displayed on a terrace of a bar sprays water to cool off clients during a heatwave in Madrid on June 28, 2015. PHOTO: AFP
A tiger cools off by embracing a large lump of ice at the Karachi Zoo, in Pakistan on June 24, 2015. PHOTO: EPA
A Pakistani woman carries her child while arriving at a hospital during the heat wave in Karachi on June 29, 2015. PHOTO: AFP
Cy Bodden from the San Diego company LawnLift sprays their Grass Paint product to enhance the green color as water restrictions take their toll during a severe drought in San Diego and California on May 12, 2015. PHOTO: AFP
A thermometer marks 46 degrees Celcius in a street of Cordoba, Andalusia, Spain on June 29, 2015, where red alerts have been activated due to a heatwave. PHOTO: EPA
A field of dead almond trees is seen next to a field of growing almond trees in Coalinga in the Central Valley, California, United States on May 6, 2015. PHOTO: REUTERS

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