Indian Heat Index Rising Every Decade

India is considered to be one of the hottest regions across the globe. The climate just gets hotter as days pass by. Have you ever thought about why is there a rise in the heat every decade? No…? Then it’s the time for you to give it a thought as the heat index is expected to play an important role when it comes to the increase in temperature. According to the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and Indian Meteorological Department, there is a 0.56% or 0.32% rise in the average heat index during the monsoon and summer in India every decade.

Do you actually know what heat index is? It is increased stress on the humans due to the rising temperature and climate change. In case of higher temperature, when the sweat does not seem to evaporate, the heat index is higher. About 25 locations have been analyzed till date from which 17 of them including Pune, Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Ahmadabad, and so on are grouped into a category of “hot” and “very hot”. The northern regions such as Delhi and Amritsar come in the hot category during the summers and very hot category in the monsoons. Pune and Mumbai are included in the hot category of heat index during their monsoons. The other big question that arises is “what is hot and very hot category?” Very Hot category means the rising heat index is dangerous for humans as it can cause health issues such as exhaust, dehydrate, heat cramps, and heat stroke whereas the Hot category means the humans exposed to heat have to be cautious.

Major heat index issues arise in the metropolitan cities where the heat gets trapped in the atmosphere to the heavy construction of buildings, industries or increasing crowd. This trapping of heat causes a change in the temperature when compared to the surrounding.

Thus, the main reason for the increasing heat index over the decade is the human activities.