Heavy rains and lightning in Pakistan have killed at least 50 people. Afghan authorities also reported at least 50 deaths due to rain and flooding in recent days as thousands have had to flee their homes. In 2022, U.N. chief António Guterres called the worsening annual weather events in the region “monsoon on steroids” as the climate crisis increases their frequency and intensity.
Elsewhere, large swaths of northern Kazakhstan and Russia’s Urals region have been inundated, forcing more than 125,000 people to evacuate as large snowfalls and heavy rains swelled the tributaries of the Ob River.