Almost one-third of the heatwave days India experienced in 2024 were driven by climate change, according to a new report by the medical journal The Lancet.
The report found that India recorded an average of 19.8 heatwave days last year, of which 6.6 days would not have occurred without human-induced climate change.
It also estimated that heat exposure in 2024 resulted in the loss of 247 billion potential labour hours, mostly in the agriculture and construction sectors, amounting to an economic loss of about $194bn (£151bn).
While heatwaves are not new to India, their frequency and intensity have been rising steadily over the past few decades because of global warming.
Prolonged exposure to extreme heat has serious repercussions on health. It can overwhelm the body's ability to regulate temperature, increasing the risk of dehydration, heatstroke, cardiovascular stress, and even death—particularly among the elderly, infants, and outdoor workers.
The 2025 Lancet Countdown report warns that the health risks posed by rising global temperatures are more severe than ever.
Jeremy Farrar, assistant director-general for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at the World Health Organization (WHO), remarked, The climate crisis is a health crisis. Every fraction of a degree of warming costs lives and livelihoods.
The report also revealed that heat-related mortality has increased by 23% worldwide since the 1990s, with an annual average of around 546,000 deaths.
In addition to rising temperatures, India's air quality has severely deteriorated over the past few years, contributing to health issues across the population. A staggering 1.7 million deaths in 2022 were attributed to atmospheric pollution, primarily from tiny PM2.5 pollutants.
The report was released ahead of the COP30 summit scheduled to take place in Brazil next month, emphasizing the urgent need for global action to combat climate change.
