India has been hit hard by one of its worst heat waves this year, especially in the northern, western, and national capital regions. It has experienced consistent temperatures of 50ºC and above. In June this year, an outlier temperature above 52ºC was reported in Delhi, with city authorities warning of risks of water shortages and power grid tripping.
Climate change, predominantly caused by burning fossil fuels and exacerbated by human interference, is making heat waves hotter, more intense, and longer lasting. Cities are particularly vulnerable to the compounding effects of urbanization and climate change.
According to the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Chane ( IPCC), heat waves that occurred once every ten years without human-caused warming are now likely to occur 2.8 times more often (or once every 3.6 years) and are 1.5ºC warmer because of climate change caused by burning fossil fuels. Extreme heat waves that occurred once every 50 years without human-caused warming are now likely to occur 4.8 times more often (or once every 10.4 years) and are 1.5ºC warmer.
Extreme heat this year forced schools to close early for summer in India. Temperatures in 37 cities exceeded 45ºC and above, with warnings of a “very high likelihood” of heat illnesses for the entire population. Nighttime temperatures remained in the range of 36ºC. There have been reported cases of over 16,000 heat strokes and 60 heat-related deaths since March 2024.
Heat in India and South Asia is further characterized by being extremely humid, making it more dangerous for human health. High humidity levels can prevent the body from cooling itself through sweating, raising the risk of heat strokes and other life-threatening conditions. The combination of intense heat and humidity also poses life-threatening risks to the population, exposing children, older people, patients with cardiovascular and diabetes conditions, people with low incomes, and fisher folks, among others, with cities bearing much of the brunt as they are often warmer than rural areas.
This devastating heat is not a natural disaster. India’s suffering is worse because of factors related to climate change—burning coal, oil, and gas, and deforestation. To avoid worsening the problem, India must end fossil fuel use. Unless we do it, terrible heat like this will happen more and more often, and it will get even hotter.
This year’s summer season in India appears to be unique. While frequent thunderstorms and cloud cover prevented the onset of high temperatures and heat waves between March and mid-May, a stable weather pattern has been instigating heat waves. With a persistent maximum temperature above 45ºC, a crunched summer season is turning out to be deadly across north-western India.
Conditions such as heat waves, floods, droughts, and landslides, among others, are addressed in national disaster plans, and subregions have their own local plans and policies. India’s Prime Minister is the national custodian of implementing disaster preparedness plans to provide assistance, solace, and relief to people suffering from extreme weather conditions.
NATIONAL DISASTER PLAN THAT ADDRESSES EXTREME HEAT
With the severity and frequency of heatwaves increasing across the country, governments at various levels—state, district, and city—have prepared heat action plans (HAPs). These plans aim to increase preparedness and lower the adverse impacts of extreme heat by outlining strategies and measures to prepare for, address, and recover from heat waves.
The National Disaster Management Authority and India Metrological Department are working with 23 Indian States to develop HAPs. There is no centralized database on HAPs, but at least 23 HAPs exist at the State and city levels, with a few States, such as Odisha and Maharashtra, laying out district-level HAPs, providing a snapshot of regions’ heat profile, including information on the number of past heatwave events, yearly trends in the summer maximum temperature, land surface temperature, and so on, followed by a vulnerability assessment which maps out regions that require immediate attention and a response plan.
This plan presents recommendations for mitigating and addressing heatwave impacts before, during, and after. It outlines the roles and responsibilities of various line departments, such as the disaster management authority, labor department, and police.
In addition, civil society and businesses have also joined hands with the government, both at federal and sub-regional levels, to provide better infrastructure, such as shaded pathways, provision of water and food on roads and highways, resting places, restrooms, provisions for medicines, local doctors, trained volunteers, and the use of mobile technology for weather forecasts and tips to follow to stay cool.
Some of the measures advised by the medical fraternity and doctors include avoidance of exposure to direct sunlight, use of an umbrella and sunglasses, keeping the body hydrated with frequent, small intakes of water, fruit juice, coconut water, and lemon drinks, and avoiding going out in extreme heat conditions. Sunscreen lotions also help protect against adverse effects on the skin, washing eyes frequently with clean, cold water and avoiding sudden changes in temperature, like walking out of air-conditioned rooms straight into sunlight and vice versa.
Heat waves are the single most significant threat to India’s well-being today. Record-breaking heat of over 48ºC across north, west, and central India shows that the climate crisis is a ‘nice-to-push’ rhetoric as long as one hasn’t experienced a 50ºC heat wave. High temperatures are also proof that the issue is now about survivability. As more and more Indian cities develop faster, climate resilience needs to be incorporated immediately to reduce the compounding impacts of extreme heat on human health, economy, and livelihoods.
The widespread, long-lasting, and intense heat wave conditions over India and many other parts of South Asia and internationally are a direct result of climate change caused by human emissions of greenhouse gases. Adaptation steps to control the rising global average temperatures are urgently needed.
This Post was submitted by Climate Scorecard India Country Manager Pooran Chandra Pandey.