Cruel Summer: Rethinking how to live, work in a world that is getting warmer

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Indian Institute for Human Settlements, says the situation it describes, of the impact of high temperature and humidity, is a cause for concern in India. “As relative humidity increases, it will become harder for us to perspire and reject heat from our bodies.” In such situations, the only cooling technology that works is air conditioning, but less than 10% of Indian households have ACs, which, in turn, expel heat and contribute to warming.

As this year’s summer, with its extended heat waves and record temperatures, warns, how to adapt to a warmer world is no longer a hypothetical question.

A new study by World Weather Attribution says climate change has made a 30-day heat wave in South Asia 45 times more likely and 0.85o C hotter. Experts say we need to rethink the kind of houses we live in and offices we construct, how we grow our crops and the way we look at the impact of heat on our bodies, even as we tackle reducing the use of fossil fuels.

Warmer Homes, Cities
In the Australian mining town of Coober Pedy, where temperatures go up to 50o C, the homes of about half the population are always a cool 19-25o C.

This is because about 50% of the population live underground, in dugout homes excavated into hillsides. Chitra Vishwanath, a sustainability-focused architect, says India, too, should make better use of underground spaces, in the face of rising temperatures.