BHUBANESWAR: Land surface thermal hotspots are expanding rapidly across Odisha, with some districts recording annual growth of up to 9 per cent, said a new study by researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bhubaneswar, explaining the rising heating trends in the state.
The study attributed the trend to rapid urbanisation, industrial expansion and the degradation of natural landscapes and warned that rising surface temperatures are increasingly affecting both cities and rural areas.
Published in Environmental Science: Advances, a journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the research analysed two decades of satellite data to map the evolution of thermal hotspots across all 30 districts of the state.
Conducted by Dikshika Mahapatra and Dr Debadatta Swain of the School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences at IIT Bhubaneswar, the study highlighted the growing influence of land-use change and urbanisation on Odisha’s thermal landscape.
The findings showed rapidly urbanising and industrial districts such as Khurda, Ganjam, Cuttack and Sundargarh have witnessed a steady rise in extreme land surface temperatures, with thermal hotspot coverage expanding by between 2 pc and 9 pc annually in several coastal districts.
Khurda, Cuttack, Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Angul and Jharsuguda recorded the highest concentration of hotspots over built-up areas, where impermeable surfaces such as concrete and asphalt, along with dense infrastructure, retain more heat and raise daytime temperatures.
The study found that increasing heat is no longer confined to urban centres. Interior and western districts, including Bargarh, Balangir, Kalahandi and Nuapada, have also experienced a rise in thermal hotspots over non-built-up areas due to the expansion of barren land, fallow agricultural fields and forest degradation.
Sundargarh emerged as a unique case, recording high hotspot concentrations in both urban and non-urban landscapes, reflecting the combined impact of industrialisation and environmental degradation.
Among all districts, Rayagada recorded the highest persistent thermal hotspot coverage at 92.09 pc, followed by Gajapati (86.16%), Nayagarh (76.05 %), Balangir (75.02 %), Nuapada (66.14 %), Kandhamal (62.56 %) and Kalahandi (60.87 %). In contrast, Balasore, Bhadrak, Koraput and Nabarangpur reported relatively low hotspot coverage. The study also found that population exposure to thermal stress was highest in Ganjam, Sundargarh, Khurda and Cuttack owing to their large populations and rapidly expanding urban footprints.
Researchers warned that prolonged exposure to thermal hotspots could have far-reaching implications for public health, electricity demand and environmental sustainability as climate change intensifies.
The study recommended district-specific mitigation measures, including expanding urban green spaces, promoting heat-resilient infrastructure, restoring mangroves and riverbank vegetation, protecting forests and integrating high-resolution satellite monitoring into urban planning and environmental management.
These interventions could significantly reduce surface heating, minimise heat-related health risks and strengthen Odisha’s resilience to rising temperatures driven by climate change and unsustainable land-use practices.