Vulnerability to heat stress: A case study of Yavatmal, Maharashtra, India

This study provided a pilot assessment of vulnerability to heat exposure in a rural context during the peak summer months of 2016, with a focus on indoor and outdoor temperatures. The five-year ASSAR project (Adaptation at Scale in Semi-Arid Regions, 2014-2018) uses insights from multi-scale, interdisciplinary work to inform and transform climate adaptation policy and practice in ways that promote the long-term wellbeing of the most vulnerable and those with the least agency.

In India, heat wave conditions are generally experienced during the summer months of April and May, and from time-to-time, deaths due to heat waves have been reported from several parts of the country. Between 2001 and 2012¹, heat stroke accounted for 4% of all deaths from natural calamities (see chart 1 on page 2), with a marked rise seen in recent years. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), over the past half century (1961 to 2010) heat wave frequencies have increased by a third. With the rise in average global temperature, a further increase in the number of hot days and greater frequency and severity of heat waves is expected. The risk of morbidity and mortality related to heat stress will continue to increase. Hence, effects of heat stress on human health are becoming an issue of growing concern in India.