India's Economy, Development Goals At Risk Due To Extreme Heat: Study
NDTV
Extreme heat has caused more than 24,000 deaths since 1992 and has also driven up air pollution and accelerated glacial melt in northern India, said a team of scholars led by the University of Cambridge's Ramit Debnath.
Killer heat waves are putting "unprecedented burdens" on India's agriculture, economy and public health, with climate change undermining the country's long-term efforts to reduce poverty, inequality and illness, a new study showed.
Extreme heat has caused more than 24,000 deaths since 1992 and has also driven up air pollution and accelerated glacial melt in northern India, said a team of scholars led by the University of Cambridge's Ramit Debnath.
India is now "facing a collision of multiple, cumulative climate hazards", with extreme weather happening almost every day from January to October last year, they said.
Mr Debnath told Reuters that it was "very important to figure out how we measure vulnerabilities to frequent extreme events", with the Indian government's own "climate vulnerability index" believed to underestimate the impact that longer, earlier and more frequent heatwaves will have on development.
