A matter of survival now that the heat wave in South Asia reaches 127 degrees

As South Asia suffers a sweltering heat wave, life-or-death decisions come under the midday sun.

Abideen Khan and his 10-year-old son need every penny of the $3.50 a day they can earn by shaping mud into bricks in a kiln under the open sky in Jacobabad, a city in southern Pakistan. But as temperatures have risen as high as 52 degrees Celsius in recent days, they have been forced to stop at 1pm, cutting their income by half.

“This isn’t heat,” Khan said, sweat dripping down his face and soaking into his worn clothes. “It’s a punishment, perhaps from God.”