00:00Joining me now is one of the country's leading environmentalists and a climate change expert, Sunita Narayan, joins us.
00:06Sunita, are you surprised with what we've seen over the last couple of days, heat waves across the country,
00:11temperatures in some parts almost at 50 degrees?
00:13Is this inevitable and a consequence, as many say, of climate change or something else?
00:19So, Rajdeep, what we are seeing is a combination of both climate change as well as the way we are
00:24building our cities,
00:26the way we are mismanaging our environment.
00:30So, there is no doubt that heat levels are going up and will continue to go up.
00:35The one thing that we are certain about today is that every year a new heat record is made in
00:43the world and then broken.
00:45So, let's be clear about this.
00:47The world has now seen searing heat across and temperature rise, given the fact that we are doing so little
00:57to combat climate change,
01:00is inevitable.
01:01But what you are also seeing is what I call this double whammy.
01:05So, the way we are building our cities with more concrete, less green spaces, less water bodies, more air conditioners,
01:15because we need to have air conditioners as heat level goes up.
01:20They give out more heat as well, more motorization.
01:25You are basically adding to heat in cities.
01:30And the worst thing that is happening, Rajdeep, and it's important to deconstruct this,
01:34is that what IMD has been now putting out more and more data on is that the night temperature is
01:42not falling.
01:44So, what you are not seeing anymore is a differential between day and night temperature.
01:49And this is really bad for human bodies.
01:52So, the maximum heat impact, health impact, deaths that we are seeing is because nighttime temperature is not falling.
02:03The differential is reducing.
02:04And this is a combination of climate change and our own mismanagement or the way we are managing our environment.
02:13I saw a figure, 50 hottest cities in the month of April were in and around India.
02:20In fact, probably in India, 50 hottest cities.
02:24Some are calling it the El Nino effect.
02:27Is it El Nino or is it just the way some of our cities, as you say, have been built
02:32at the moment?
02:33That we are therefore facing an even more excessive impact of this heat?
02:39So, I think we are facing right now the El Nino effect, as I understand it, is not come into
02:45full force.
02:47And when it does, we will definitely see even hotter planet, including cities in India.
02:54I think, Rajdeep, it's important, instead of just saying it's India and the rest,
02:58what we have to understand is this requires us to act.
03:03We need to understand that heat levels are going up because of climate change,
03:08a factor that we can do very little about other than scream and shout and ask for the world to
03:14combat emissions,
03:15including us, to reduce emissions.
03:18But we also know that if we can build better, we will be able to cope with higher heat levels.
03:26So, I think what we need to focus on, what can we do to reduce the impact of this searing
03:33inferno type heat?
03:35And what can we do?
03:37And what can we do?
03:38Tell me one, two, three, three things we need to do.
03:40So, one, I think we need to change our building codes so that we plan for insulated buildings.
03:46We plan for shading in buildings.
03:48One of the worst things we're doing today is making glass buildings Gurgaon style.
03:52You're trapping heat.
03:54You're creating more conditions to have more air conditioners.
03:59You're going to have more heat levels, more unbearable heat.
04:03That's one.
04:04Change your building codes.
04:06Second, talk about a factor in heat in terms of city planning.
04:12So, already when you're looking at cities, you need to look at areas which don't have tree cover.
04:18You need to look at tree cover.
04:20You need to look at where you can improve the shading in a city itself.
04:25So, it's not just heat management when heat happens, but how do you live with this searing heat?
04:31And that's what cities need to do to start planning better.
04:35And then third, of course, is the emergency that we are in today.
04:39The public health emergency where you have to deal with heat.
04:43And that's about making sure that you have an advisory to people, which IMD is beginning to do.
04:49You need to talk about the wet bulb phenomena, which means make sure that you have ventilation in your rooms,
04:56a fan in your room.
04:57Because remember, it's not just heat, but the body's ability to be able to evaporate, which means not just an
05:05air conditioner, but also a fan, a common fan.
05:08Talk about shading on buildings, talk about insulation.
05:13We need to understand that this heat is not going away and that we need to plan better, do better,
05:20so that we can survive this in the coming years.
05:24This is only going to get worse.
05:26I'm going to ask you one quick final question.
05:29Heat waves are not officially notified as a disaster in India.
05:33Do you believe that's necessary and that we need improved disaster funding mechanisms that tackle heat waves?
05:38A quick answer.
05:39So, yes, absolutely.
05:41Some states are doing so.
05:43Delhi needs to do so.
05:45Other states also need to do so.
05:47So, at the national level, we need to make sure that heat waves and a good indicator for what is
05:52a heat wave, along with both temperature as well as humidity levels, needs to be classified so that it is
06:00a heat, official heat wave.
06:02It is a disaster and therefore everything else comes in, including funding.
06:07We don't have funding today to even plan for better heat management.
06:12So, yes, absolutely.
06:14Okay, I'm going to leave it there, Sunita Narayan.
06:17As always, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom.
06:20I hope someone's listening to what you said and that really is only our hope at the moment.
06:25Thank you very much for joining me on what might lie ahead with the heat in an air-conditioned studio.
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