The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) began monitoring temperature, moisture, and rain in 1875. It is now one of the world’s largest enterprises, monitoring dozens of weather variables. This information is freely available to the public. When the IMD was founded, its mission was to “study methodically the climate patterns in India as a whole, and apply the knowledge so gained to the issuing of storm and other warnings, as well as daily predictions.” The department was assigned with forecasting the south-west monsoon after a devastating famine in 1877.
Analysis by IMD
The IMD uses long-term data from 1981 to 2010 to forecast normal daily temperatures and concerns heatwave warnings if temperatures are projected to exceed 40 degrees Celsius in the lowlands or 30 degrees Celsius in mountainous areas. It does so for coastal zones when the highest temperature is forecast to be higher than 4.5 degrees Celsius or above 37 degrees Celsius. However, these requirements must be completed at two stations within the IMD division. On the second day, a heatwave was declared.
The Report of Weather and Climate Extremes
According to a report published in the journal Weather and Climate Extremes in 2021, heatwaves killed 17,362 people in India between 1970 and 2019, with approximately 2,000 deaths in 2015. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, hundreds of people die per year country to extreme conditions.
The lowest number of deaths was 530 in 2020, probably due to the COVID-19 lockdown and work limitations in that year. Because a heatwave is not a declared disaster, many of these deaths go unreported.
Heat Stress Index
There are two approaches for measuring the impact of heat on the human body that are more accurate than simply measuring temperature.
The Heat Stress Index is the first, and it considers the effects of temperature, moisture, and solar radiation on the human. When high humidity is paired with temperature, air circulation, and radiant heat, it assesses how hot it feels.
The Wet Bulb Globe Temperature is the second (WBGT). Although this assessment seems to be in the prototype phase, it takes into account heat stress that is similar to working conditions. It calculates temperature in solar radiation while taking into account wind speed, humidity (important for regular sweating), solar angle, and weather patterns.
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