It is no news that most parts of the country have started to feel the heat of summer like weather as winter is almost about to end. Places like Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and Kolkata are witnessing above normal temperatures by 3-5°C.
At present, such rise in the temperatures is due to the warm westerly over the country, but there is much deeper reason why the temperatures over the country are increasing. According to a recent study by IMD (Indian Meteorological Department) and IITM (Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology), the heat index recorded over the last 60 years have shown a gradual increase.
Temperatures have risen at the rate of 0.56°Celsius in summers and 0.32°Celsius in the months of Monsoon every 10 years. The measure of stress that humans face due to rise in temperature as well as moisture levels is measured by Heat Index. More the heat index, more the heat index hotter one feels.
Cities like Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Nagpur are among the 17 cities out of 25 cities that has recorded ‘very hot’ in the summer heat index. Such weather conditions can lead to cramps, heat stroke and exhaustion. New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Varanasi and Amritsar, among others are the 18 mega cities for the season of Monsoon wherein the average heat index are in the very hot category.
A lead researcher of the study and an ex-IM official, "Mega cities are densely packed with people, buildings, industries and vehicles. Heat released into the atmosphere gets trapped. So, the ambient temperature is often higher than the immediate surroundings."
Image Credit: Indian Express
Originally published in TOI