Namma Bengaluru has been categorised with 44 other cities worldwide that will face the worst heat stress due to global warming. The average number of extreme hot days annually is predicted to double in the future.
This will have an adverse impact on people's health, especially those who are not used to such high temperatures; that too in a city which, in the past, has had moderate temperatures with a salubrious climate, a new research has suggested.
The study, published on Monday in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has predicted that there will be an increase in the frequency of deadly heat waves worldwide, even if the 2015 Paris Climate targets are reached.
Kolkata, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Surat, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad from India are in that category as they are the largest metropolitan areas and will continue to be this century. Also, the population stress in these cities is increasing exponentially due to rapid urbanization.
However, among these cities, Bengaluru needs to worry the most as this year, in March, the temperature has already crossed the 38-degree-mark. It is projected to cross the 40-degreemark in the coming months of April-May - something that the city has never experienced before.
Dr GS Srinivas Reddy, director, Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, says, "This year, the temperature might cross the 40-degree-mark as in March itself we have recorded around 38 degrees Celsius in some parts of the city. The city has a lot of variation in terms of temperature, and it varies from one to two degrees."
And then he sounds the alarm: "But the worst part is that in last five years, Bengaluru is witnessing roughly one degree rise in temperature on an average, annually. Even due to global warming the average temperature rise in almost a decade has been under a degree.This rise is alarming as it predicts more of a manmade crisis than natural forces, and this should be taken seriously," he says.
The study suggests that if the global average temperatures rise by 1.5 degrees Celsius, Mumbai will be added to the list of heatstressed cities. Similarly, with a 2.7 degree Celsius rise Hyderabad and Pune will make it to the list; and with a 4 degree Celsius rise, Bengaluru will also be a heat stressed zone.
Heat stress refers to human body experiencing more heat than it can tolerate and is calculated using heat index that incorporates both air temperature and humidity. But there are local factors already resulting in a surge of heat stress in Bengaluru, especially areas having depleted green cover and large number of glass houses in, say climate experts.
Dr GM Prasad, a general physician from the city, says, "I have already started advising my elderly patients not to venture out in the afternoons and mid-afternoon when the temperature is at its peak in the city. Also, one needs to be hydrated. But the city has a good number of diabetic patients and fluid control is also necessary for them; therefore, they should strictly avoid venturing out when the temperatures are high."
This will have an adverse impact on people's health, especially those who are not used to such high temperatures; that too in a city which, in the past, has had moderate temperatures with a salubrious climate, a new research has suggested.
The study, published on Monday in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has predicted that there will be an increase in the frequency of deadly heat waves worldwide, even if the 2015 Paris Climate targets are reached.
Kolkata, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Surat, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad from India are in that category as they are the largest metropolitan areas and will continue to be this century. Also, the population stress in these cities is increasing exponentially due to rapid urbanization.
However, among these cities, Bengaluru needs to worry the most as this year, in March, the temperature has already crossed the 38-degree-mark. It is projected to cross the 40-degreemark in the coming months of April-May - something that the city has never experienced before.
Dr GS Srinivas Reddy, director, Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, says, "This year, the temperature might cross the 40-degree-mark as in March itself we have recorded around 38 degrees Celsius in some parts of the city. The city has a lot of variation in terms of temperature, and it varies from one to two degrees."
And then he sounds the alarm: "But the worst part is that in last five years, Bengaluru is witnessing roughly one degree rise in temperature on an average, annually. Even due to global warming the average temperature rise in almost a decade has been under a degree.This rise is alarming as it predicts more of a manmade crisis than natural forces, and this should be taken seriously," he says.
The study suggests that if the global average temperatures rise by 1.5 degrees Celsius, Mumbai will be added to the list of heatstressed cities. Similarly, with a 2.7 degree Celsius rise Hyderabad and Pune will make it to the list; and with a 4 degree Celsius rise, Bengaluru will also be a heat stressed zone.
Heat stress refers to human body experiencing more heat than it can tolerate and is calculated using heat index that incorporates both air temperature and humidity. But there are local factors already resulting in a surge of heat stress in Bengaluru, especially areas having depleted green cover and large number of glass houses in, say climate experts.
Dr GM Prasad, a general physician from the city, says, "I have already started advising my elderly patients not to venture out in the afternoons and mid-afternoon when the temperature is at its peak in the city. Also, one needs to be hydrated. But the city has a good number of diabetic patients and fluid control is also necessary for them; therefore, they should strictly avoid venturing out when the temperatures are high."