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India could possibly become one of the first countries to experience heatwaves with temperatures exceeding the human survivability limit, according to the Investment Opportunities in India's Cooling Sector Report by the World Bank.
Heatwaves in the Indian subcontinent have exponentially increased in severity, frequency and duration over the last 60 years.
Within 2022 alone, there were 99 deaths recorded across India and Pakistan due to the heat. The month of March also broke records for having the highest temperatures ever recorded in the month.
India will be experiencing heatwaves that are approximately 25 times longer by the years 2036-2065, if carbon emissions are not reduced, the G20 Risk Atlas had warned in 2021. This was also seen in IPCC's worst case emissions scenario.
The rising temperatures and extended heatwaves would directly impact India's economic growth and food security.
India's workforce is still heavily dependent on heat-exposed labour jobs, including agriculture.
According to the report, this would be make India extremely vulnerable to job losses, which would directly affect more than half of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
In 2021, a study by Nature revealed that India had observed the largest amount of heat exposure impacts amongst the South Asian countries.
Food security will also be severely impacted as transportation of produce will require cold chain refrigeration. Currently, only 4% of fresh produce in India is covered by cold chain facilities.
The report, however, lauded India for being one of the first countries to recognise the need for a Cooling Action Plan (ICAP), which was initiated in 2019.
As listed under the report, ICAP's major goals by 2037-38 include:
25% reduction of cooling demand
30% reduction of refrigerant demand
40% reduction of cooling energy requirements
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