Heat waves in India

Ganapathi  Bhat

Perhaps of all seasons in India, the pre-monsoon summer and the temperature variation it brings with it, is most troublesome.  The sweltering heat makes lives miserable for three months. Both maximum and minimal temperatures are bound to witness a surge in different cities which is highly perturbing because a small disparity in temperature can make a huge impact on living conditions of the people.    

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the average earth temperature has risen by 0.8 degree Celsius since 1880.  The year 2016, according to NASA, has been the warmest year in a 138-year period.  The persistence power of greenhouse gases is linked to the constant augmentation of temperature around the world. Reverting back to specifics, India's heat related mortality is always on an upward swing. Heat waves are ever increasing with a reduction in the cold waves which makes the spiralling hot waves difficult to control.  Air and water quality will see a downward trend with fluctuation in temperature. 

Unhygienic water brings many diseases and the crippling effects of air pollution is well known.  India's pollution level is next only to China. From 2013-2017, more than four thousand people have succumbed to heat waves in India.  Poor people with no roof over their heads or those  deprived of cooling system within the four walls of their homes are acutely affected by heat waves.  

 It is estimated that four per cent of India's population cannot do without air conditioning. The dying of crops due to sizzling heat and water scarcity add to the woes of our farmers. Some seventy five per cent of the population are said to be exposed to a temperature level which can be fatal.  Infections and diseases invariably lead to absenteeism in work places.  Animals are rendered helpless in hot summer.  All this, and more, can have a telling effect on our economy which anyway is nothing much to boast about.  It is incumbent upon India, which has been in the forefront of the Paris Climate Agreement, to leave no stone unturned to reduce carbon emission and, more importantly, ensure low carbon production.