NEW DELHI: The 12-month period between October 2022 and September 2023 was literally hot for over one billion Indians, according to a study. Indians figure at the top in the list of populations which experienced elevated temperature, especially heat waves, for five days or more in this period.
The study by US-based Climate Central showed that people from Kerala, Goa, Andaman and Nicobar, Puducherry, Mizoram, and Karnataka experienced a higher number of heat waves than in other states. The climate change induced rising temperature translates into heat waves which caused deaths of at least 264 people in India, according to the study.
Climate Central is a group of independent scientists that reports on facts about changing climate and how it affects people’s lives. It has created a Climate Shift Index (CSI) system to quantify the local influence of climate change on daily temperatures across the globe. The higher the index, higher the temperature. CSI indicates that climate change boosted this heat for billions.
The global average temperature for the last 12 months was 1.32°C above the pre-industrial baseline (1850-1900). Previous warmest 12-month period was 1.29°C, during October 2015-September 2016. The study said mean temperatures over the span exceeded 30-year norms in 175 countries, exposing 7.8 billion people — 99% of humanity — to above-average warmth. Only Iceland and Lesotho recorded cooler-than-normal temperatures.
The pre-industrial temperature was estimated 1.2-1.3°C cooler than the present-day. Increasing heat is the deadliest of weather-related hazards.