BEAT THE HEAT WITH PEOPLE-CENTRIC RESPONSES

As India might be heading into another warm year, there is a need for people-centric and multi-sectoral interventions, along with science-based innovations

- 

On March 15, some States and cities in India experienced the first of severe heatwaves for the year 2025. This was 20 days earlier than the first severe heatwave in 2024. In the last decade, the number of severe heat days and the severity/intensity of heatwaves have been rising. The year 2024 was the warmest year on record at about 1.55°C above pre-industrial level, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

In India, December 2022 was the hottest December since temperature monitoring in the country started in 1901. The frequency of heatwaves in India has increased in the last two decades, in comparison to the previous two decades.

The impact of rising external temperature and heatwaves along with humidity and wind speed, is reflected in the form of heat stress. When the outside temperature reaches close to our body temperature of 37° Celsius, the body fails to release the internal heat which is generated as a part of the basal metabolic rate. Thus, one starts to feel heat-stressed. Heat stress can affect multiple organs including the kidneys, the liver and the brain, and may cause sickness and even death.