DEALING WITH EXTREME HEAT – GEOGRAPHY

DEALING WITH EXTREME HEAT – GEOGRAPHY

News: Dealing with extreme heat

What's in the news?

●       Around 350 million Indians were exposed to strong heat stress between April and May 2022.

●       Between 1990 and 2019, summer temperatures on average rose by 0.5-0.9°C across districts in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan; about 54% of India’s districts have also seen a similar rise in winter temperatures.

Key takeaways:

●       Between 2021 and 2050, it is expected that the maximum temperature will rise by 2-3.5°C in 100 districts and by 1.5– 2°C in around 455 districts.

●       Similarly, winter temperatures will rise between 1°C and 1.5°C in around 485 districts. Such a sharp rise in urban temperatures is rare.

●       However, with climate change exacerbating local weather patterns, we are likely to see April-May temperatures reaching record highs every three years.

Impact of Extreme Heat:

●       Cities suffer from urban heat island effect with 4-12°C higher than in rural outliving areas.

●       High humidity with wet bulb temperature above 32 °C in many cities.

●       High weather variability severely impacts agriculture. For example - India’s cumin that accounts to about 90% of production in Gujarat and Rajasthan was affected.

●       Rising temperatures have made the cities unlivable, the laborers are the worst losers. Extreme heat exposure leads to loss of 162 hours per year. Hence rise in temperature has a high direct impact on labor productivity.

●       About 50% of India’s workforce is exposed to heat during working hours. This includes marginal farmers, laborers at construction sites,street vendors and even the gig economy workers are affected.

Mitigation Measures:

●       Greening can be a solution. Ideally there should be at least seven trees in the urban landscape for every urban citizen. Streets should have more natural vegetation.

●       Development plans for tier 2 and 3 cities should be set up to increase urban space that is permeable with increasing density of urban forests.

●       Expansion of wetlands and restoration of dead and decaying ponds and lakes to ensure ecological functioning along with reducing urban heat.

●       For reduction of urban heat island effect, we need greater usage of permeable materials in civic infrastructure and residential construction. Use of urban layouts like brick jails and Terracotta tiles for ventilation.

●       Need to curb anthropogenic heat emissions from vehicle, factories.

●       Urban buildings should be upgraded to avoid the use of galvanized iron and metal roof sheets that absorb heat.

●       Use of cleaner cooking fuels should be promoted that shall reduce indoor air pollution and urban heat.

●       Use of public transportation, reduced use of personal vehicles and reduced size of landfills could help control urban heat.

●       Methane production from mountainous landfills may lead to fires. It increases the urban heat and weather variability in our cities. Waste segregation, along with solid waste management at source, can be helpful.

●       There is a need to improve forecasting ability. It includes the potential impact of heat on food production.

●       Current econometric models associated with food inflation primarily look at the variability in the monsoon, minimum support prices and vegetable prices. Local heat trends need to be added, given their impact of heat on food production, storage and sale.

●       There is a need for detailed policies and guidelines on weather variability and urban heat management at the State, district, city and municipality ward levels.

In alignment with the Paris Agreement, the study calls for global warming to be limited to 1.5°C to avoid substantial heat-related mortality in the future. Reducing the health impacts of extreme heat is an urgent priority and should include immediate changes to infrastructure, urban environment, and individual behaviour to prevent heat-related deaths.