New Delhi: India had the largest number of people (about 117 million) exposed across the world to at least 30 days of risky heat added by climate change between June and August, according to a new analysis.
It defined risky heat days as days hotter than 90 per cent of temperatures observed in a local area compared to the 1991-2020 period. This represents the point at which health risks from heat begin to climb.
On average, India was 0.7 degrees Celsius warmer than normal between June and August this year, compared to the 1991-2020 average, said the analysis, ‘Risky Heat Added by Climate Change: June to August 2026’, released on Wednesday by Climate Central, an independent group of scientists and communicators.
The study also revealed that in India, the average person experienced about 39 days with temperatures strongly influenced by climate change this summer.
Srinagar recorded the most risky heat days, with 53 days, followed by Chennai (40 days), Rajkot (29 days), Amritsar (29 days) and Lucknow (27 days), according to the analysis.
It added that Mumbai had the highest number of days (86 days) where temperatures were strongly influenced by climate change.
Globally, more than 1.5 billion people experienced 30 or more days of risky heat added by climate change between June and August.
Asia had the largest total population exposed to risky heat — 2.8 billion people (58 per cent of the continent’s population) were exposed to at least 30 days of risky heat, said the analysis.
