India could soon become one of the first countries to face extreme heat waves exceeding the human survivability limit, according to a World Bank report, news agency PTI reported. Over the last few decades, severe heat waves are increasing in India at an unnerving rate, and have resulted in thousands of deaths.
The World Bank report titled “Climate Investment Opportunities in India’s Cooling Sector” will be released during the two-day “India Climate and Development Partners’ Meet” being organised by the World Bank in partnership with the Kerala government in Thiruvananthapuram.
India experiencing higher temperatures arriving earlier and staying longer
The report said India is experiencing higher temperatures that arrive earlier and stay far longer.
According to a PTI report, the World Bank report said that India was plunged into the grip of a punishing early spring heat wave in April 2022. This heat wave brought India to a standstill, with temperatures in New Delhi topping 46 degrees Celsius, the report said. The month of March was the hottest ever recorded.
The World Bank report said the recent heat wave supports what many climate scientists have long cautioned about with reference to rising temperatures across South Asia.
Indian subcontinent would suffer more intense heat waves in coming decade: IPCC
The report also mentions the warning by the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in August, 2021, that the Indian subcontinent would suffer more frequent and intense heat waves over the coming decade.
The report added that the G20 Climate Risk Atlas also warned in 2021 that heat waves across India were likely to last 25 times longer by 2035-65 if carbon emissions remain high.
The World Bank report has also warned that rising heat across India can jeopardise economic productivity.
75% of India’s workforce depends on heat-exposed labour
According to the report, up to 75 per cent of India’s workforce, or 380 million people, depend on heat-exposed labour. At times, these people work in potentially life-threatening temperatures. The report also said that by 2030, India may account for 34 million of the projected 80 million global job losses from heat stress associated with productivity decline.
The World Bank report also said that India showed the largest heat exposure impacts on heavy labour among South Asian countries.
How lost labour from rising heat will affect India’s GDP
Lost labour from rising heat and humidity could put up to 4.5 per cent of India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at risk by the end of this decade, an analysis by global management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company shows. According to the report, 4.5 per cent of India’s GDP accounts for approximately US $150 to $250 billion.
Heat waves can disrupt India’s cold chain network
The World Bank report also said that India’s long-term food security and public health security will depend on a reliable cold chain network.
In order to transport food and pharmaceutical goods across India, a system of cold chain refrigeration working every step of the way is required.
The report said that a single temperature lapse in the journey can break the cold chain, as it could spoil fresh produce and weaken the potency of vaccines.
Cold chain facilities cover four per cent of fresh produce in India. According to the report, the annual estimated food losses due to temperature lapse in the cold chain amount to US $13 billion.
Before Covid-19, India lost approximately 20 per cent of temperature-sensitive medical products and 25 per cent of vaccines due to broken cold chains. This led to losses of US $313 million a year, the report said.
Air-cooling systems are a luxury available to only a few
The demand for cooling will rise in India because temperatures are rising. The report stated that India is a country where two-thirds of the population live on less than US $2 a day. Since the average cost of an air-conditioning unit can vary between US $260 and $500, air-cooling systems are a luxury available to only a few.
Only eight per cent of Indian households own air-conditioning units, according to analysis presented in the India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP).
The report warned that since indoor and electric fans, which can help maintain thermal comfort, are too expensive to buy for some people, and inefficient, many poor and marginalised communities across India are more vulnerable to extreme heat, living in inadequately ventilated, hot and crowded homes without proper access to cooling.
The report added that staying cool during extreme heat can constitute “the precarious line between life and death”.
(With PTI Inputs)
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