India's Battle Against Heat Shows Stakes of COP26 Climate Talks

Countries such as India have to figure out how to deal with the deadly heat that's already baked in.

In India's desert state of Rajasthan, where temperatures frequently reach 40 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit), the heat can be exhausting and difficult to escape.

"Most supermarkets have air conditioning," said Kakul Misra, a self-employed accountant. "In the shops and buildings that don't have cooling systems, you really feel the heat."

Indians like Misra are on the front line of the battle against rising global temperatures. The nation of 1.3 billion people is one of the most vulnerable to climate change. Heat waves kill thousands of people every decade. Ahmedabad, a city in the western state of Gujarat, lost more than 1,300 people in 2010 when temperatures hit 47 degrees Celsius.

At the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, countries are in the midst of crunch talks designed to cut emissions and stem global warming. But it will take decades for those measures to have a tangible impact on temperatures on the ground. In the meantime, countries such as India have to figure out how to deal with the deadly heat that's already baked in.