90% of India, most of Delhi in danger from heatwaves; new climate study reveals stark reality of Indian climate scenario

If anything, climate change has certainly made conversations about the weather much more interesting. The topic has quickly shifted from effortless small talk to genuine concerns about coping with the growing summer heat every passing year.

While most of these discussions may remain casual and based on 'feel', extensive scientific evidence actually supports their legitimacy as well. In addition to being a behemoth of a greenhouse gas emitter, many studies have shown that India is also one of the most vulnerable countries to projected climate change. And make no mistake, the change is already underway.

These assessments keep refining over time, revealing the true extent of our climate worries. And now, a new study has shown that current climate vulnerability assessments thus far may have been severely lacking in disclosing the actual impacts of climate change-induced heatwaves on India.

Tragically enough, the newly calibrated research showed that nearly 90% of the country is in the danger zone from severe heatwave impacts.

Not only does this place an enormous burden on human health (such as the dozen disastrous deaths we just witnessed at Maharashtra's Bhushan Award ceremony earlier this week), but it also significantly impedes progress towards the fundamental Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) laid down by the United Nations.

The study also revealed that the nation's capital is exceedingly ill-placed for the future. Severe heat wave impacts threaten almost all of Delhi, a region no stranger to excruciating 40°C+ mercury readings. Furthermore, even Delhi's updated state action plans for climate change fail to account for these conditions, meaning we could be looking at an immense burden on human health in the coming years.

"This study shows that heat waves make more Indian states vulnerable to climate change than previously estimated with the CVI," the study notes.

CVI, or the Climate Vulnerability Index, is a composite indicator of how much a place can stand to be affected by climate change. The study analysed and updated this and India's Heat Index (HI) to reveal the growing dangers of climate change in our country.

"Heat waves are getting more intense in India, putting 80% of the country's people in danger, which remains unaccounted for in its current climate vulnerability assessment," the study goes on to note. "If this impact is not addressed immediately, India can slow its progress towards sustainable development goals."

This is worrying even without acknowledging the sorry state of progress. While significant steps have indeed been taken towards achieving our SDGs — a blueprint of objectives that will help our planet and inhabitants achieve peace and prosperity — a recent Harvard study published in The Lancet showed that we're already behind on more than half of them.

"[As] the heat waves in India and the Indian subcontinent become recurrent and long-lasting, it is high time that climate experts and policymakers reevaluate the metrics for assessing the country's climate vulnerability. This offers a scope for developing a holistic vulnerability measure through international cooperation and partnership," the study's authors stress.

The findings of this study have been published in PLOS Climate and can be accessed here.

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