After experiencing its hottest February since 1901, the national weather office in India has predicted that temperatures will continue to rise in the coming weeks, raising concerns about a potential repeat of last year's record-breaking heat wave. This heat wave caused significant damage to crops and resulted in long power outages. With temperatures reaching as high as 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit), the effects are exacerbated for the 1.4 billion people living in densely populated urban areas without access to well-ventilated housing or air conditioning.
According to Kieran Hunt, a climate scientist at the University of Reading, heat stress for humans in India is a combination of temperature and humidity. Due to the higher levels of humidity in India, sweating becomes less efficient, making it even more challenging for people to cope with the heat. The wet-bulb reading, which considers both air temperature and relative humidity, is a more accurate measure of the impact of heat stress on the human body in India. A report by the World Bank in November warned that India could become one of the first places in the world where wet-bulb temperatures exceed the survivability threshold of 35°C.
Despite the significant impact of heat waves on India's population, there seems to be a growing acceptance of heat-led suffering due to the slow onset of the disaster. Abhas Jha, one of the authors of the World Bank report, raised the question of whether people have become accustomed to this suffering. While all countries are affected by global warming, India is particularly vulnerable due to various factors.