June was the hottest ever
■ Heatwaves could get frequent, say scientists
June and July 2019 have been the hottest months on record, globally. In fact, 2014 to 2019 have been the hottest years ever. Heatwaves are thus among the world’s biggest problems, scientists at a climate change conference here.
International agencies like ISA’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have confirmed that June was the hottest June on record, 0.95 Celsius above normal average. It was followed by the hottest month on record in 140 years — 0.95 Celsius above normal average. Experts at the conference, organised at the Centre of Economic and Social Studies and the Indian Society for Ecological Economics on Wednesday, said this temperature rise was caused entirely by anthropogenic emissions.
In a panel discussion on heat waves, Rohit Magotra, deputy director at Integrated Research and Action for Development (IRADe), said ‘heat stress’ is caused by a combination of a rise in temperature and relative humidity. Abnormally high levels can be catastrophic for the human body. Thousands have perished to heat waves across the country in the past few years, he said.
“The number of heatwaves has been increasing every year,” he said. “And summers are also arriving earlier hence the season is getting longer.”
IRADe has conducted studies across the country. A team has collected data over four months in New Delhi, Rajkot and Bhubaneswar. “In Delhi there were
49 days with abnormally high temperatures in 2018; this number rose to 66 in
2019. The trends are similar in other places also,” Magotra said.
Heatwaves can be the direct cause of wage loss. High temperatures cause exhaustion, dehydration and illness, which force a worker from work.
Mr Magotra said 90 per cent of men surveyed in Delhi reported their productivity was affected due to heat wave conditions; in Bhubaneshwar, it was 76 per cent; in Rajkot, 77 per cent. The most loss was in informal occupations such casual labour who work in the open. The wage loss potential is in hundreds of crores. Lipika Nanda of the Public Health Foundation of India introduced the concept of heat threshold. “A heat threshold for a location is the highest temperature beyond which people start dying due to heat,” she said. “We study the pattern between temperatures and mortality in an area to calculate this number.” Nanda said the threshold can be lower than people may believe. “In Bhubaneshwar, the threshold is only 38.4 degrees, not even 40,” she said. A person’s underlying illness such as kidney or heart ailment aggravate during heat waves. “There are a number of effects. Some studies suggest that children develop problems as a result of their inability to play outdoors,” she said.