The Heat Is On

The severe heatwave in the northern and western parts of India has broached all-time records. In the last week or so, Indian and Pakistani cities and towns have registered the highest temperatures in the world. High heat coupled with humidity is expressed as ‘wet bulb’ temperature, and a place with a wet bulb temperature of over 35 degrees Celsius is considered unlivable. Many Indian cities are expected to pass these wet bulb temperatures in 50 years, making swathes of the country, home to tens of millions of people, uninhabitable. In a 2015 heatwave, some 2,500 people died. The effects of climate change, manifest in this extreme heat, are reversible, scientists have argued. So, for instance, by meeting its Paris Agreement targets to control emissions, India could still pull itself back from the brink, could still avoid breaching that wet bulb mark.

10

of the 15 hottest places on the planet on June 4, according to a website that collates international weather reports, were in India, including 6 of the top 10. The other 5 were in Pakistan

50.3°C

The temperature in Churu, Rajasthan, the highest temperature recorded in the world on June 4. The coldest was -78.7°C in Antarctica

8

of the 15 hottest places in the world, including Churu, are in Rajasthan: Ganganagar (48.8°C); Bikaner (48.4°C); Phalodi (48.2°C); Jaisalmer (47.8°C); Kota, Pilani (47.5°C); Barmer (47.2°C)

11

of the 15 hottest years on record since 1901, says the Indian Meteorological Department, have been in the period from 2004-2018. Last year was the 6th. Top 5: 2016, 2009, 2017, 2010, 2015

6,167

heat-related deaths recorded between 2010 and 2018, according to figures provided by the Ministry of Earth Sciences to the Lok Sabha; 2,081 (33.74%) in 2015 alone

75 billion

hours of work lost in India due to extreme heat each year, said a 2017 report published in British medical journal, Lancet

$2 trillion

cost in lost labour productivity worldwide by 2030 due to extreme heat, estimates International Labour Organization. Cost to India by 2050: 2.8% of GDP, says 2018 World Bank report