As per the report published by the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 350 million people across 44 mega cities in the world will go through a prolonged heat stress this century. Out of these, 9 cities are from India including Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Surat, Pune, Hyderabad, along with Ahmedabad.
Even if Paris Climate targets of 2015 are reached, these mega cities will continue to witness hotter days every year.
For those who don’t know what a heat stress is, it basically means that the human body is experiencing more heat than it can take. Heat stress is calculated by using the heat index which includes both humid conditions and air temperature.
In India, heat waves have continuously been increasing for the past few years. In fact, the year 2016 has been the hottest since 1901.
Due to increasing temperatures, both global warming and population growth, heat stress will only increase in the coming years.
Kolkata, is expected to be the biggest sufferer and will continue to be the world’s most heat-stressed city for the entire century. As per reports, Kolkata would witness rising population levels by 3 times until the end of the 21st century.
While global temperatures may not rise, heat stress is expected to increase in Kolkata by quite an extent.
Image Credit: NDTV