India’s heat is underestimated, harming progress, study says

By SIBI ARASU
Associated Press

BENGALURU, India (AP) — The full extent of the damage from India’s sizzling heat that’s causing more deaths, illnesses, school shutdowns and crop failures is underestimated by lawmakers and officials in the country and slowing the nation’s development, a study Wednesday found. Extreme heat is placing 80% of India’s 1.4 billion population in danger but assessments of how vulnerable the country is to climate change don’t take into account how much the searing temperatures are hampering goals like reducing poverty and improving heath across India’s population, researchers at Cambridge University in England found in a peer-reviewed study. The study calls for an overhaul on how progress on development goals is measured to reflect the gravity of extreme heat in the country.