Heat crisis looming: How India is planning to fight it as climate change worsens

As heatwaves intensify across South Asia, India's early summer in 2026 highlights gaps in preparedness and the need for joint solutions.

In Short

• Asia is warming twice as fast as the global average, experts warn
• Over 57% of Indian districts already face high to very high heat risk
• Hub to link data with action, train 500 professionals by 2030

India witnesses heat spreading across regions and putting strain on the people, crops, and businesses, every year.

In 2026, the world's most populous country saw winter end prematurely. Warm days were experienced as early as February, raising alarms about the shifting weather patterns and whether India is prepared to handle much hotter days that are expected to come.

As temperatures climb not only in India but across the subcontinent, several stakeholders came together this week and launched a new body that will facilitate collaboration and innovation to address India’s worsening heat crisis.

The South Asia Hub of the Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN) is a consortium of research and policy organisations, bringing together five coordinating partners. It includes the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), a public policy think tank, the Sustainable Futures Collaborative (SFC), a research organisation, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a provider of climate solutions, Bangladesh's BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).

"Extreme heat is a regional, cross-border risk. By bringing countries together, the Hub can strengthen cooperation, align policies, and integrate heat into broader disaster risk and climate resilience frameworks across Asia-Pacific," said Kiyoung Ko with UNESCAP.

The collaboration is aimed at building a shared regional system for translating climate data into health action. It will work in tandem with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM).

WHAT IS EXTREME HEAT?

Extreme heat is defined differently in different places, depending on a single or several thresholds that need to be met for the condition to be considered as one of extreme heat.

In India, extreme heat is officially defined by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) using heat wave criteria tied to both absolute temperatures and departures from normal.

A heat wave is declared when maximum temperatures are 4.5 degrees Celsius or more above normal, and reach at least 40 degrees Celsius in the plains, 37 degrees Celsius in coastal areas, and 30 degrees Celsius in hilly regions. In practice, the IMD also treats temperatures above 45 to 47 degrees Celsius in the plains as extreme heat due to the significant health risks they pose.

CAN INDIA HANDLE THE HEAT?

The numbers paint a clear picture of India's unpreparedness.

According to CEEW research, 57% of India’s districts which are home to nearly three-quarters of the population, already face high to very high heat risk.

Rising nighttime temperatures and growing humidity are compounding the problem, reducing the body’s ability to recover overnight and straining health systems in the process.

In 2024, India recorded over 44,000 reported heatstroke cases, along with deaths.

“Extreme heat is not a seasonal hazard; it is a systemic risk to public health, economic productivity, and infrastructure across South Asia,” said Dr Arunabha Ghosh, CEO of CEEW. “What makes heat particularly dangerous is that it cuts across sectors — climate, health, labour, and urban development — yet responses often remain fragmented.”

That fragmentation is precisely what the Hub aims to address.

Most national systems in the region still lack health-triggered warnings, and early warning data rarely translates into timely action on the ground. The Hub plans to change that by connecting governments, researchers, and local practitioners in a shared knowledge network to target clearer alerts, safer working hours, and stronger policy support for health services.

A WARMING CONTINENT

South Asia is not alone in facing this.

Asia is warming at twice the global average rate, and between 1990 and 2021, accounted for more than half of all heat-related deaths worldwide.

Nearly 90 per cent of South Asia’s population is projected to face extreme heat exposure by 2030, and even high-altitude countries like Nepal and Bhutan now regularly record temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius.

Dr Joy Shumake-Guillemot of the WHO-WMO Climate and Health Joint Programme said the tools to respond already exist. He pointed to heat action plans, early warning systems, cross-sector coordination, but admitted that they will only work when institutions pull in the same direction.

Over the next few years, the Hub aims to train more than 500 professionals, connect over 60 institutions, and strengthen heat action plans across South Asia.

By strengthening collaboration amongst South Asia's climate adaptation and public health leaders," said Dipa Singh Bagai of NRDC India," this partenrship proactive, coordinated action that protects the most vulnerable communities.”

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