A February Heatwave

February used to be quite a thrill for 5-year-old me. While I shivered and enjoyed the wild delight of winter—something that my weak immune system might have a thing or two to comment on—I braced for the slow onset of summer from the middle of March. Winters are still quite an experience, but the period seems to have greatly shortened, with distinguishably lower temperatures over a shorter period of time. 

On 20th February 2023, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) published a special press release. “The maximum temperature is likely to remain above normal over many parts of north-west India by 5-7°C during the next 3 days.” The press release outlined that the maximum temperature in some areas of Saurashtra and Kutch was 4-9°C above normal between 13-20 February. For certain places in Himachal and Uttarakhand, the temperature was 5-11°C above normal.

Given the temperature rise, the IMD advised farmers to conserve soil moisture and maintain soil temperature, particularly emphasising that the temperatures could impact wheat production. For the Himalayas, the heatwave could have other adversities in store. With unrestricted ‘development’ already leading to the development of cracks and land subsidence in cities like Joshimath, such weather could impact both the glaciers and the status of forest fires, more so as predictably worse summer months approach.

Deep down, the press release didn’t surprise people. For those in the climate sphere, such news and the lack of any genuine concern from the policymakers is a regular experience. For the common person, it is barely news. Get rid of the sweater, prepare for earlier school hours, and head right back into the capitalist cycle which has made us oblivious to the grand threat posed by environmental collapse.

—————————

Heatwave season

Summers in India have become harsher with every passing year. In March 2022, when maximum temperatures reached 34°C, it was reported as the highest in the last 122 years. 2023 has already had a worse start. And as the year moves forward, the anticipations for peak summer months like May and June stand are bleaker.

Apart from the environmental concerns, there are serious economic, social and health challenges that come with such drastic changes. First, blue-collar workers take the worst hit. Construction workers, gig workers and others who work right under the scorching heat are under increased threat from serious health stress.

This then also becomes an economic issue. We also need to understand that facilities like air conditioners or even coolers are not available to everyone. As we move down the financial ladder—which is shaped by social divisions like caste, class, religion and gender—one’s access to equipments which can reduce heat stress is greatly affected.

—————————

A cycle of climate destruction

With the onset of longer and harsher summers, ACs will be used more. Not just does it mean higher emissions from these Air Conditioners themselves, but it also means higher electricity requirement over a longer period, which will further stress the coal power plants that currently fulfill the vast majority of India’s energy demand.

Both these factors will then reinforce the very drivers of climate change which are causing the higher usage in the first place. Moreover, it’s a cycle over which we as individuals don’t have much control—either turn on the AC or experience intense heat stress. 

—————————

Food Security

The threat that is posed to food production by increasingly warmer temperatures needs to be given more attention. As the IMD press release said, the recent heatwave can impact wheat production. To quote the International Monetary Fund, “warming tends to reduce yields because crops speed through their development, producing less grain in the process. And higher temperatures also interfere with the ability of plants to get and use moisture.”

When we couple this problem with declining soil fertility—another issue caused by incessant environmental destruction in the name of development—we are essentially looking at a future where we would not be able to sustain the society that we have so proudly built on the back of destructive industrialisation. 

To not lose hope is easier said than done—it’s also a privilege. We currently stand way past the point of apathy. There are real crises approaching, and while alarmism might not entirely be the way out, it has emerged as a response to the tone-deafness of the people in power.

If initiatives to refocus urban planning and development towards a more nature-based, geography-specific and foresight-oriented approach continue to be pushed under the rug by invoking global inequality, we will be rendered into a society left with nothing but social collapse to flaunt. If global equality and decolonisation stand for continued emulation of the west, we will drown with them—with everyone across this vast stretch of land not being affected quite equally.

—————————