Delhi recorded its first heat-related fatality of the year after a 40-year-old laborer died of heatstroke, according to local media reports Thursday.
India declared a severe heat wave as temperatures in New Delhi reached a high of 52.3 degrees Celsius (126.3 Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, marking the second day of the nation’s record-high heat.
Delhi’s lieutenant governor asked the government on Wednesday to take measures to protect laborers, including providing water and shaded areas and offering them paid leave from noon to 3 p.m.
Sonali McDermid, associate professor of environmental studies at New York University, told VOA that outdoor and manual laborers are especially vulnerable to the health consequences of heat waves.
Three other people died Tuesday due to heatstroke in the desert state of Rajasthan, which previously held the national record for high temperatures.
The criteria for declaring a heat wave in India requires the maximum temperature to be 4.5 C (8.1 F) to 6.4 C (11.5 F) higher than usual. A severe heat wave alert is issued when temperatures are at least 6.5 C (11.7 F) higher than normal.
Scientists say Asia’s scorching temperatures this summer will be worsened because of human-driven climate change.
Studies by World Weather Attribution estimate that climate change has made South Asian heat waves about 30 times more likely over the past several years.
But the implications of climate change don’t stop at heat, McDermid says.
“Climate change brings about a full spectrum of very dangerous conditions from very hot to very dry or very wet,” she told VOA.
McDermid said climate change must be addressed more aggressively.
“I don't think we'll hit the worst-case scenarios of climate change, but clearly — as we see right now — we don't need to be on the worst-case trajectory to be feeling these horrible impacts.”
Some information for this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
