Exposure to Extreme Heat and Cold Temperature Leading to Additional Preventable Deaths in India

The authors of a new 19-year study are calling for immediate measures to curb the growing death toll from extreme temperatures in India. Over the past two decades, heatstroke has caused around 20,000 deaths, while exposure to cold has resulted in an additional 15,000 fatalities.

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Urgent action must be taken to reduce the ever-rising number of people killed by extreme temperatures in India, say the authors of a new 19-year study which found that 20,000 people died from heatstroke in the last two decades. Cold exposure claimed another 15,000 lives. Findings published today in the peer-reviewed journal Temperature, also revealed that deaths from heatstroke are more common in men of working age and identified the states that are hotspots for deaths from heatstroke and from hypothermia and other conditions fuelled by the coldThere is an upward moving, increasing trend in terms of mortality due to heatstroke and exposure to cold in India, with glaring variation across states. “Deaths due to heatstroke are more significant, compared to deaths due to cold exposure, albeit recording an upward trend," says the study's lead author Professor Pradeep Guin, whose research at the O P Jindal Global University (JGU), in Sonipat, India, is at the intersection of climate change, environment, health, politics, and governance.

Hundreds of people die from the heat or cold each year in India and many of these deaths are avoidable. Last year, Mungeshpur, in Delhi, recorded highest-ever summer temperature in India, at 52.9°C (126.1°F). Every summer, in India, we hear about heat-related deaths, which is avoidable. Similarly, some parts of the country—not the traditionally colder states—report deaths due to cold waves, which can be controlled. However, there needs to be adequate infrastructural and social safety-net support, the authors state.

“With an intense heatwave forecast to hit most of the country this summer and extreme weather events becoming more frequent around the globe as the world warms, there is no time to be lost in raising awareness about the dangers of extreme temperatures and putting in place measures to reduce their impact. “Support systems exist, but more needs to be done,” Professor Guin adds.