There are parts of the world dangerously approaching the physiological limit of the human being.

On Wednesday, May 27, at 10 in the morning, the Yacobabad thermometers they reached 49 degrees. The city in central Pakistan is one of the warmest places in the world, with average summer temperatures exceeding 37 degrees. The only problem is that it is not summer: touching 50 degrees in May, even there, is a big deal.

So much so that the press (and the networks) have begun to talk about the “limits of human habitability”, the point from which a human can no longer endure.

Because yes, that limit is beginning to be crossed elsewhere and it is worth looking where.

What is happening in the Indian subcontinent? The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) issued on May 23 a “severe heat wave” alert which would last from May 25 to 31, 2026. We are talking about expected temperatures 4-6 ° C above normal in much of Sindh and in areas of Balochistan and southern Punjab. But, above all, we are talking about temperatures close to (or above) 45 degrees in many parts of India and Pakistan.

However, the worst is not happening in Sukkur at 49°C with 15% humidity; It is happening in Kolkata which enjoys about 38°C, but with 70% humidity.

The physiological limit of the human being. This concept has been around the meteorological world for several decades. In 2010, Sherwood and Huber proposed that the physiological indicator that matters It is not the temperature in dry environments, but the temperature in humid environments. In these cases, at a certain point, the sweat does not evaporate and, therefore, the body cannot cool down. Everything starts to fail.

In dry climates the risks come from the other side (heat stroke, dehydration, systemic collapse), but in humid climates there are certain thresholds where what exists is a thermodynamic impossibility of cooling down.

The figure that is usually set is 35 degrees with very high humidity. It is not clear because there is a lack of available evidence, but we will soon have it. Occasionally, We have already begun to see these configurations in the Persian Gulf.

So what about Pakistan and India is not that big a deal? Yacobabad is historical, yes. A May like this had never been recorded. But the real danger is happening elsewhere: on the plains of the Indus and Ganges valleys.

A world where it is difficult to live. However, this is just a warning. On May 14, 2026, World Weather Attribution (WWA) published a rapid attribution study about the April 15-29 episode in northern India and Pakistan. This is not what we have in hand, but it serves as a reference: according to the WWA, climate change made this event three times more likely.

That is the future we are going to. Therefore, the question of whether there are areas of the world that are going to become literally uninhabitable places is on the table.

Image | Windy (via AbaloOrtega)

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