40 million more Indians hit by heatwaves in 5 years: Report

NEW DELHI: Climate change is hitting home. India saw an increase of 40 million in the number of people exposed to heatwaves from 2012 to 2016 (counting both years), a global report prepared by 27 leading academic institutions, the United Nations and inter-governmental agencies has said.


It termed the surge in heatwaves in India as an imminent danger to health and called for urgent action to develop and implement local heat action plans.


The Lancet Countdown report on health and climate change, released on Wednesday, said average temperatures in India are projected to rise alarmingly. Between 1901 and 2007, India's mean temperature increased by more than 0.5 degree Celsius. "While the world is bracing for an increase of around 2 degrees Celsius over the 21st century, northern, central and western India may witness further increase averaging 2.2 to 5.5 degrees by the end of the 21st century," it said.

Globally, the Lancet report said, vulnerability to extremes of heat has steadily risen since 1990 in every region, with 157 million more people exposed to heatwaves in 2017 as compared to year 2000.

The average person experienced an additional 1.4 days of heatwaves per year over the same period, it said. Low and middle-income countries, India included, are likely to be worst affected by climate change, given weaker health systems and poorer infrastructure, experts said, adding that this may lead to further widening of existing health and economic inequities.

Heatwaves are associated with increased rates of heat stress and heat stroke, exacerbation of heart failure and acute kidney injury from dehydration. Children, the elderly and those with pre-existing morbidities are particularly vulnerable.

Dr K Srinath Reddy, an author of the India policy brief of the Lancet report, said identifying local heat hot spots through appropriate tracking and modelling of meteorological data is needed tackle the crisis.

"Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has adopted a heat action plan which necessitates measures such as building heat shelters, ensuring availability of water and removing neonatal ICU from the top floor of hospitals. It has helped bring down the impact of heatwave of vulnerable population. Similar action plan should be developed by other states also," Dr Reddy, who is also head of the Public Health Foundation of India, said.

The Lancet report shows 153 billion hours of labour were lost globally in 2017 due to heat, an increase of 62 billion hours relative to year 2000. The impacts, the authors on India policy brief note, vary with different sectors with the agriculture being most vulnerable as compared to the industrial and services sector.

"For India, whose large agriculture economy makes up 18% of the country's GDP and employs nearly half the population, this translates into substantial climate-related impacts on the workforce and economy," said Dr Reddy.

Between 2000 and 2017, the report says, labour hours lost in agriculture rose from about 40,000 million hours in 2000 to about 60,000 million hours in 2017. "Similar trends, although of smaller magnitude, affect the industrial and service sectors, where the effect of climatic conditions is reduced due to less physically strenuous work condition," it states.

Overall, India lost nearly 75,000 million hours of labour in 2017, relative to about 43,000 million hours in 2000, an increase of over 30,000 million hours over two decades. "For a developing economy like India, this represents a substantial impact on individual, household and national budgets, necessitating urgent national and regional adaptation plans," the report said.

The experts have also called for carrying out comprehensive city-level traffic surveys to guide urban infrastructure while promoting safe walking and cycling to reduce the emission load.