All India mean temperature has risen nearly around 0.6⁰ C over the last 110 years in line with the rising temperature across the globe. In a statement in reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today, the Union Minister for Science & Technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan, said that the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report (2014) highlights that mean surface temperature of the globe has risen by 0.85⁰ ± 0.18⁰ C.  ,.

 Every year India experiences severe heat waves in summer, but in 2015, casualties were abnormally high the Minister. Most of the deaths were concentrated in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar. Details of the Heat Wave/Sun Stroke related deaths are given below:

Using daily maximum temperature data of 103 stations uniformly distributed over the country for the period 1961-2010  from Indian main land during the hot weather season (March to July), it was observed that many areas of the country (north, northwest, central and northeast Peninsula) have experienced more than eight (8) Heat Wave days  on an average per season. He said the recent decade 2001-2010 happens to be the warmest decade for the country as well as for the globe.

Upon prediction of the heat wave conditions by the ESSO-IMD, various State Governments have a system of giving wide publicity of Dos and Don’ts through advertisements in Print and audio-visual media and opening up of drinking water camps at identified places in rural and urban areas to mitigate the impact of heat waves. The schedule of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme workers is adjusted to avoid exposure to extreme hot weather duration periods.

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KSP/VM/SS