Preparing for summer heat

Governments should be ready with action plans to manage power and water needs

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Heatwave conditions across large swathes of central and western India, and Odisha in the east, have set in several weeks early, even as other areas of the country are experiencing contrasting weather — a sign of the uncertainty that marks the deepening of the climate crisis. The heatwave is because of a high-pressure system over central India that has caused subsidence of hot air, a phenomenon not common for this time of the year; the clear skies that have resulted have allowed higher intensity of solar radiation, causing overall heating.