Climate change boosts India’s heatwaves in 2024

Almost a third of the heatwave days India will experience in 2024 were caused by climate change, according to a new report by the medical journal The Lancet.

The report found that India recorded an average of 19.8 heatwave days last year, of which 6.6 days would not have occurred without human-induced climate change.

It also estimates that heat exposure in 2024 resulted in the loss of 247 billion potential working hours, mostly in the agriculture and construction sectors. amounting to an economic loss of around $194bn (£151bn).

Although heat waves are not new to India, their frequency and intensity have been steadily increasing over the past few decades due to global warming.

Prolonged exposure to extreme heat has serious health consequences. It can overwhelm the body’s ability to regulate temperature, increasing the risk of dehydration, heat stroke, cardiovascular stress and even death — especially among the elderly, infants and outdoor workers.

And the Lancet Countdown to 2025 report – which tracks the health impacts of climate change and is widely regarded as the key scientific reference on the issue – warns that the health risks posed by rising global temperatures are now more severe than ever.

“A record 152 extreme weather events were recorded in 61 countries last year, and life-threatening extreme heat is becoming more intense than previously predicted,” the report said.

“The climate crisis is a health crisis. Every fraction of a degree of warming costs lives and livelihoods,” said Jeremy Farrar, Assistant Director-General for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and Control at the World Health Organization (WHO).

The report found that heat-related deaths have increased by 23% globally since the 1990s, averaging about 546,000 deaths each year.

It also found that the average person in the world was exposed to 16 days of extreme heat last year that would not have happened without climate change.

“This (report) paints a grim and undeniable picture of the devastating health damage reaching all corners of the world,” said Dr Marina Romanello of University College London, who led the report’s analysis.

“The destruction of lives and livelihoods will continue to escalate until we end our addiction to fossil fuels,” she added.

The report also mentions that air quality in India has deteriorated over the past few years.

Every year, with the onset of winter, air quality in the Indo-Gangetic plains becomes toxic. And this year, the air quality has been between bad and very bad for nearly a month, sometimes even dangerous.

The report mentions that 1.7 million deaths in 2022 are caused by air pollution, especially due to the small pollutant PM2.5, which can cause a host of serious health problems. Harmful emissions from burning fossil fuels accounted for 44% of these deaths.

He also noted that heavy reliance on biofuels such as wood, manure and crop residues for cooking continues to quietly claim thousands of lives across the country – especially among women and children in rural areas.

The report was released ahead of the COP30 summit to be held in Brazil next month.

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