2023-04-20 13:17:56
MADRID, 20 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Heatwaves could slow or reverse India’s progress –now the most populous country in the world– towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) without heat impact assessments.
Deadly heatwaves fueled by climate change in 2022 made nearly 90 percent of Indians more vulnerable to public health problems, food shortages and increased risks of death, a new study by researchers at the University of Cambridge reported in the journal PLOS Climate.
India currently uses a Climate Vulnerability Indicator (CVI) to measure climate vulnerability and plan for adaptation.
The CVI includes many different socioeconomic, biophysical, institutional, and infrastructural factors. But it does not have a physical risk indicator for heat waveswhich is a key missing factor that would help policymakers to consider how extreme heat actually affects the Indian population.
The new study is the first to include a “heat index” to measure the recurring impacts of Indian heat waves on the country’s population. The index measures how hot the human body feels relative to surrounding conditions when humidity and air temperature are added together.
The study suggests that the CVI underestimates the main risks and threats of heat waves for the Indian population because it does not include any measure of heat stress. This missing element also makes it difficult to identify areas of the country, such as Delhi and other large urban areas, that are most vulnerable.
“Then we could find out how extreme heat is really affecting people and in what parts of the country,” he said. it’s a statement first author, Dr. Ramit Debnath, Cambridge Zero Fellow at the University of Cambridge. “A heat stress measure that identifies the impacts and parts of India where the population is most vulnerable to recurring heatwaves would help make state Heat Action Plans being created across India more effective”.
Some of those unidentified areas at the intersection of climate extremes and non-climate, structural and socio-economic factors (shown by the SDGs) they may also be at risk of increased vulnerability to the impacts of extreme heat.
The researchers used publicly available data on state-level climate vulnerability indicators from the Government of India’s National Data and Analytics Platform to classify the severity categories. They then compared India’s progress on its SDGs over 20 years (2001-2021) with extreme weather-related deaths over the 20-year period from 2001-2021.
The results showed that India’s global ranking according to the United Nations Sustainable Development Group has gone down over the past 20 years because it has not reached the targets of 11 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, all of which were very important for SDG 13 (Climate Action).
Previous studies have shown that India’s frequent heat waves are an increasing burden on its economy and public health resources. Long-term predictions show that heat waves will affect more than 300 million people by 2050 and reduce the quality of life for nearly 600 million Indians by 2100. But not enough attention has been paid to its short-term effects and the plans to deal with Heat Waves.
The study also found that not having a measure of physical risk for heat waves can delay progress on SDG 2 (Zero hunger), SDG 3 (Good health and well-being), SDG 5 (Gender equality), SDG 8 ( Decent work and economic growth), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), SDG 10 (Reduction of inequalities) and SDG 15 (Life on land).
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