Experts warn of heat risks as India's temperatures climb again
temperatures across India are having their worst impact in the country's teeming megacities, experts said Thursday, warning that the heat is fast becoming a public health crisis.
India is enduring a crushing heatwave with temperatures in several cities sizzling well above 45 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
Temperature readings in the capital New Delhi rose into the high 40s Celsius this week, with power usage in the city — where the population is estimated at more than 30 million — surging to a record high on Wednesday.
«Cities are more vulnerable to the compounding effects of urbanisation and climate change,» said Aarti Khosla, director at research institute Climate Trends.
«Expect a greater number of hotter days, prolonged dry spells and less rainy days as weather patterns continue to change due to increased human emissions,» she told AFP.
— Heat ward and ice baths -
In Delhi's Ram Manohar Lohia hospital, a specialised unit is busy treating patients with heat-related illnesses.
Equipped with immersion ice baths, the unit has treated eight heat-struck patients in the past week.
One person died Wednesday, medics said, with a body temperature that had surged to a fatal 41.5C (106.7F).
Among those admitted to the unit were manual labourers, most aged between 40 and 50, who work under the blazing sun.
«Treatment depends upon very quick, very rapid intervention and very rapid cooling,» hospital director Ajay Shukla said, warning that the mortality rate for severe cases is around «60-80 percent».
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