Due to the increase in the temperature of the earth, the number of states affected by heat waves in the country increased by 35 percent in the last ten years and their number reached 23, while the number of heat wave days increased by 4 times the national average. This information came out in the joint report of India Meteorological Department (IMD), National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and National Center for Disease Control (NCDC).
According to the report, the possibility of a primary heat wave in 2022 was 30 times higher. That year was the fifth warmest, while 2023 was the warmest year on record. Between 2015 and 2024, the number of states affected by extreme heat in the country increased from 17 to 23. The names of Arunachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu-Kashmir and Uttarakhand have been included in this list of states, where like the common states, life is greatly affected due to scorching heat and hot winds.
The report clearly states that this heat trend proves the effects of climate change. Before 2014, coastal states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala and hill states like Himachal and Arunachal Pradesh were not affected by heat waves, but in recent years, especially after the corona epidemic, there has been a rapid change in weather the air between 2021 and 2023. The Center for Science and Environment (CSE) recently reported that there will be 329 days of a heat wave in 2023, which were 203 days in 2022. At the same time, between the years 2014 and 2023, the average number of days affected by heat at the national level increased from 7.4 to 32.2 days.
16 years ago… only nine countries were affected
The NCDC said that 16 years ago in 2008, only nine states in the country were affected by extreme heat and heat waves, with governments concerned between March and July every year. Apart from Odisha, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Northwest Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region were affected by it. In recent years, there has been a trend of increasing heat in Israel, which has a severe impact on many districts and cities.
Punjab-Haryana is getting hot all the time
The strongest impact of extreme heat in northern India is seen in the states of Punjab and Haryana. Despite being close to the Himalayan region, these two countries recorded a roughly 12-fold increase in the number of heat wave days compared to previous years. It can also be understood that in 2021 only two heat waves occurred in these two countries, but now this figure has crossed 24.
19,000 people will arrive at the hospital in 2023
The year 2023 was the hottest year in the weather records so far and this year as a whole 19,402 thousand people were hospitalized. Although these were considered suspicious cases because no direct link to heat stroke was proven, 189 of these deaths were attributed to heat stroke.
Mercury reaches 49 degrees in Phaludi, Rajasthan, 6 dead
Due to extreme heat, the mercury has reached a peak in Rajasthan. The maximum temperature recorded at Phaludi on Friday was 49 degrees Celsius. At the same time, another six people died in the country due to fever.
In many parts of Delhi as well as Rajasthan, the night minimum temperature is above 30 degrees and heatwave-like conditions are prevailing. The minimum temperature in Delhi was recorded in the morning at 30.8 degrees Celsius, which is four degrees above normal. On Thursday night the temperature was 36.8 degrees in Phaludi, Rajasthan, 33 degrees in Kota and 32.1 degrees in Jaipur.
People advised to stay at home
Heat wave is happening in many parts of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat. The maximum temperature remains around 45 degrees Celsius. The meteorological department advised people to leave their homes only when absolutely necessary. The condition of the mountains is also bad because of the heat this year. Kashmir recorded a temperature of 32.2 degrees on Thursday, which is the highest temperature in May in 13 years. The maximum temperature recorded in Srinagar was 32.3 on 20 May 2011.
