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Bengaluru: Heatwaves in India have increased in intensity and frequency over the last 26 years due to global warming, according to a recent study published in the journal Scientific Reports. While this is not new – existing research has shown this before – the study also found that the extent of heat hotspots in the country has increased during these years by 1.5 times. Parts of western India, the southeastern coast and the Indo-Gangetic Plain are among the areas most at risk in terms of health impacts on people.

Recent research predicts that deaths caused by intense heat are likely to increase in the country too. In March, a global report predicted that with current levels of warming caused by climate change, parts of northwestern and central India could witness as many as 24 deaths per every 1 lakh due to hotter temperatures.

More heatwaves, and longer ones

The India Meteorological Department defines heatwaves as periods of unusually high temperatures that occur in an area when compared to what is normally expected over the region during that time. A heatwave is said to occur over a region if the maximum temperature goes above 45 Degrees Celsius, or when temperatures increase from between 4.5 and 6.4 Degrees Celsius above the normal. A severe heatwave is said to occur when maximum temperatures exceed 47 Degrees Celsius, or rises above normal levels by 6.4 Degrees Celsius and higher.

Trends in daily maximum temperatures are one way to assess changes over years. A team of scientists from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology Pune and the National Remote Sensing Centre Hyderabad analysed the daily maximum temperatures for the two hottest months in India – April and May – from 1981 to 2020. 

They found that the average daily maximum temperature increased by ~0.5°C by 2000, and by ~1.0°C by 2020 when compared to 1981 levels due to human-caused warming (activities such as the use of fossil fuels that release carbon emissions into the atmosphere which in turn traps greenhouse gases that increase temperatures globally). North-western and central India and the coast of Andhra Pradesh experienced the most........

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