Heatwaves resulted in a 7% drop in the Indian labor force in 2017: report

India's labor force declined by 7% – equivalent to a loss of 75 billion hours of work – due to heatwaves, the Lancet Health and Safety Report 2018 announced on Thursday. climate changes. This figure is almost four times that of China and just under half of the 153 billion hours lost in the world in 2017.

The Indian Government and the relevant public health agencies must identify "hot spots for warmth" through the appropriate monitoring and modeling of meteorological data and promote the rapid development and implementation of plans of action space for heating, with inter-agency strategic coordination and a response that targets the most vulnerable groups.

The report urges India to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and air pollution, especially coal, in order to reduce carbon emissions and pollution from the environment. air, especially coal. public health.

Last year, 157 million more vulnerable people were hit by heatwaves compared to 2000 and 18 million more than in 2016.

Lancet Countdown, a research collaboration between 27 academic institutions and intergovernmental organizations, said that 153 billion hours of work had been lost worldwide in 2017 because of extreme heat resulting from climate change.

China alone lost 21 billion hours, equivalent to one year of work for 1.4% of its labor force.

Rising ambient temperatures expose vulnerable populations to increased risk in all regions of the world. Heat exacerbates urban air pollution significantly: 97% of cities in low- and middle-income countries do not comply with WHO air quality guidelines.

Heat stress, an early and severe effect of climate change, is commonplace and health systems are ill equipped to deal with it.

From 2010 to 2016, air pollution has worsened in 70% of the world's cities, with coal use accounting for about 16% of premature mortality related to ambient fine particulate matter .

The frequency, intensity, and duration of heat waves in India have increased over the last fifty years. From 1985 to 2009, the trends were worse than those observed between 1960 and 1985.

According to more recent data provided by the Lancet Countdown, which tracks the evolution of exposure compared to the 1986-2008 reference period, the number of vulnerable people over 65 exposed to heat waves has increased significantly. both in the duration of heat waves over the past two decades.

In absolute numbers, there were 40 million events of exposure to additional heat waves in India in 2016 compared to 2012, which represents a dangerous increase in the impact of heat waves on health.

Trends in mortality during the heat wave in Ahmedabad showed significantly higher all-cause mortality during the peak of the heat wave, with a 43% increase over the reference periods.

Data reflected inequities in access to prevention and cooling strategies and adequate health care, signaling the urgent need to allocate resources for prevention and mitigation actions destitute populations.

The recent special report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlights the need to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above sea level. preindustrial era, rather than the two degrees which are the main objective of the Paris Agreement.

She concluded that "if warming continues to increase at the current rate, global warming will probably reach 1.5 degrees Celsius between 2030 and 2052" and that "global net carbon dioxide emissions due man should be reduced by about 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030, to reach a zero anet "by 2050, in order to stay within 1.5 degrees"

A recent report ranks India among the countries that suffer the most social and economic costs of climate change: each additional tonne of carbon dioxide emissions costs 86 dollars to India, followed by 48 US dollars and 47.5 dollars by Saudi Arabia.

The consequences of climate change for India can not therefore be underestimated, the report adds.