India, land of extreme heat

How people cope with temperatures approaching 50 degrees

Climate change is causing heatwaves around the world. Yet the most populous country, India, is the one that suffers the most extreme heatwaves. As this ARTE report shows, temperatures frequently approach 50 degrees Celsius. Unbearable heat has devastating effects throughout the nation.

In some regions, houses made of plant materials are spontaneously combusting, families are desperately short of water, and workers often end up in hospital suffering from heat shock. Their bodies can no longer sweat to regulate the temperature, so they have to be immersed in ice baths.

To combat the heat, an NGO suggests that poorer neighborhoods unable to afford air-conditioning should paint their roofs white to reduce solar radiation and lower the temperature a little. In other parts of India, green environments are being set up so that citizens can move away from concrete gardens to benefit from those of plants and trees.

Nevertheless, if climate change continues as it is, India could see some of its regions become uninhabitable because of the heat.

Running time: 12min48

Image: Eddy Pellegrino from Pixabay

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