Urban Heat Stress Tracker- Kolkata

May 23, 2024

Heatwaves have become a staple of Indian summer due to the climate change. No region of the country is immune to this worsening phenomenon. States and cities are publishing their heat action plans to safeguard their populations from the dangerous heat exposures during heatwaves. These plans, while outlining the measures for emergency response and preparedness, also define the responsibilities of stakeholder departments in the event of a heatwave. These policy interventions assume significance at a time when heat and temperature trends are expected to worsen due to climate change and growing urbanization.

The relevance of these policy actions need to be understood against the rapidly changing global climate. The technical summary of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Working Group-I, Sixth Assessment Report (AR6 WG-I) notes that it is almost certain that the frequency and intensity of heat extremes and duration of heat waves have increased since 1950 and this will keep increasing even if global warming is stabilized at 1.5°C.¹ Combining climate change projections with urban growth scenarios, it can be said with very high confidence that future urbanization will amplify the projected increase in local air temperature.