India’s 76 pct population is at high risk of extreme heat: study
May 22, 2025 01:56 pm
Seventy-six percent of the population in India is at a very high risk of extreme heat, a latest study conducted by New Delhi-based Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) said.
According to the study, the heat-affected population is experiencing alarmingly warm nights, increasing relative humidity, and heat island effects in densely populated urban areas.
“Extreme heat now poses a risk to 57 percent of Indian districts -- home to 76 percent of the population,” the study said.
According to the study, the top ten most heat-risk-prone states are Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh.
The study presents a first-of-its-kind composite heat risk assessment of over 700 districts in India using 35 indicators, offering a granular picture of how climate change has reshaped heat hazard trends from 1982 to 2022.
The study underlines that with Indian cities and districts increasingly navigating complex and erratic climate patterns, the need for heat-resilient planning and governance becomes urgent.
-Agencies
