India could become one of the first places in the world to experience heat waves that break the human survivability limit, according to a new report. Severe heat waves are responsible for thousands of deaths across India over the last few decades. The World Bank report titled ‘Climate Investment Opportunities in India’s Cooling Sector’ said the country is experiencing higher temperatures that arrive earlier and stay far longer.
The report will be released during the two-day ‘India Climate and Development Partners’ Meet’. It predicts that heat waves situation in India could break the human survivability limit. In April 2022, temperatures in New Delhi topped 46 degrees Celsius (114 degrees Fahrenheit). The month of March, which witnessed extraordinary spikes in temperatures, was the hottest ever recorded.
The Indian subcontinent is likely to suffer more frequent and intense heat waves over the coming decade, a report has warned. Heat waves across India are likely to last 25 times longer by 2036-65 if carbon emissions remain high, the report said. It also warned that rising heat across India can jeopardize economic productivity.
By 2030, India may account for 34 million of the projected 80 million global job losses from heat stress associated productivity decline. India showed the largest heat exposure impacts on heavy labor among South Asian countries, with more than 101 billion hours lost a year. Analysis by global management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company shows that lost labor from rising heat and humidity could put up to 4.5 per cent of India’s GDP at risk.
India is the third largest producer of pharmaceuticals in the world, pre-COVID-19, India lost approximately 20 percent of temperature-sensitive medical products and 25 percent of vaccines due to broken cold chains. Only eight per cent of Indian households own air-conditioning units. In a country where two-thirds of the population live on less than USD 2 a day, air-cooling systems are a luxury only a few have.
‘Many poor and marginalized communities across India are more vulnerable to extreme heat, living in inadequately ventilated, hot and crowded homes without proper access to cooling’, the Indian government report has said. Staying cool during extreme heat is about more than just comfort – it can constitute the precarious line between life and death, it added.
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