Humid Heat in India is emerging as a growing public health threat. Through data, expert insights and lived experiences from across the country, EdPublica explores how rising heat and humidity are making everyday life increasingly difficult for millions of Indians.

By 9 a.m., Radha, a 55-year-old office worker from Kottayam in the southern Indian state of Kerala, is already drenched in sweat as she waits for her bus. By noon, waves of heat, anxiety and discomfort begin to set in. Menopause had already brought frequent hot flashes, she says, but rising temperatures and humidity have made them harder to endure.

For Radha, relief no longer comes easily. Even routine tasks feel more exhausting than they once did. Her experience reflects a growing reality across India and much of the world: climate change is not only making the planet hotter, it is making heat harder for the human body to bear.

Humid Heat in India Taking a Growing Toll

When high temperatures combine with high humidity, the body struggles to cool itself through sweating, its primary cooling mechanism. As moisture in the air increases, sweat evaporates less efficiently, causing heat to build up inside the body.

A recent analysis by Climate Central found that dangerous humid heat days have more than doubled globally since the 1970s. The average number of dangerous humid heat days has risen from around 10 days per year to 23 days annually.

Alarmingly, climate change is now responsible for nearly two-thirds of these dangerous humid heat days. The consequences are increasingly visible. A study examining mortality linked to extreme heat events since 2000 estimates that more than 260,000 people have died from heat-related hazards worldwide.

Globally, climate change is now responsible for six times as many dangerous humid heat days each year as it was in the 1970s, underscoring how rapidly the risk has intensified. In 2025 alone, the world experienced an average of 23 dangerous humid heat days. Climate Central estimates that 19 of those days, or 83 percent, were added by human-caused climate change.

“These findings show how profoundly climate change is reshaping our world,” said Kaitlyn Trudeau, Applied Climate Scientist at Climate Central. “Dangerous humid heat has gone from being an uncommon event to a defining feature of daily life in some regions, pushing conditions closer to the limits of what the human body can safely endure.” Climate Central’s analysis of 961 cities worldwide found that 69 percent, or 665 cities, are now experiencing significantly more dangerous humid heat days because of climate change. On average, these cities recorded 46 additional dangerous humid heat days each year during the last decade compared with a world without human-caused warming.

Researchers say the findings highlight how climate change is evolving from an environmental concern into a growing public health emergency, particularly in regions already struggling with heat exposure, limited access to cooling and inadequate health infrastructure.

What Is Humid Heat?

Scientists often use “wet-bulb temperature” to measure humid heat. The metric combines air temperature and humidity to estimate how effectively the human body can cool itself through sweating.

Climate Central defines wet-bulb temperatures of 25°C or higher as dangerous humid heat conditions. When humidity and temperature combine to push wet-bulb temperatures upward, the body’s natural cooling system becomes less effective.

In extreme conditions, the body can no longer regulate its temperature adequately, increasing the risk of heat exhaustion, heat stroke and even death.

Older adults, children, pregnant women and people with pre-existing health conditions face the greatest risks. High humidity can worsen cardiovascular stress, respiratory illnesses and other heat-related health complications.

“Dangerous humid heat has more than doubled since the 1970s. We’re already seeing the consequences play out in real time,” said Lisa Patel, Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford Children’s Health and Executive Director of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health.

“As a pediatrician, these numbers are a wake-up call. This kind of data is exactly the tool clinicians and public health officials need to anticipate where heat-related illness will strike and who is most at risk before people end up in the emergency room.”

How Humid Heat Is Affecting India

Humid Heat in India is already becoming visible in several cities, particularly along the country’s southern and eastern coasts.

According to Climate Central’s analysis, Tamil Nadu emerges as India’s most affected state. Tirunelveli experiences an average of 273 dangerous humid heat days annually, the highest among Indian cities. Chennai follows with 257 days, while Tiruchirappalli records 251. Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, along with Kolkata and Mumbai, are also among India’s humid-heat hotspots.

The danger does not end when people move indoors.

A separate study by Climate Trends found that heat exposure frequently continues inside homes. Researchers monitored temperatures and humidity in 50 low- and middle-income households in Chennai between October 2025 and April 2026 and found that indoor temperatures regularly exceeded 32°C.

Some households experienced more than 5,700 hours above this threshold—equivalent to nearly eight months of continuous heat exposure. Most households recorded between 3,000 and 5,000 hours of such conditions.

The findings suggest that for many urban residents, especially those without access to air conditioning, relief from heat remains elusive even indoors.

Heat, Menopause and Everyday Life

For women such as Radha, humid heat can intensify already challenging health conditions.

The World Health Organization notes that hot flushes and night sweats are among the most common symptoms associated with menopause. These episodes involve sudden sensations of heat in the face, neck and chest, often accompanied by sweating, flushing, palpitations and discomfort.

Women who have undergone hysterectomy are known to experience more frequent and severe hot flushes. According to NFHS-5 data, nearly one in ten women aged 30 to 49 in some regions of India have undergone the procedure.

As temperatures and humidity rise, these symptoms can become even more difficult to manage, adding another layer to the health impacts of climate change that often goes overlooked.

A City Struggling to Cool Down

In Mumbai, 59-year-old driver Vikas says heat has become one of the city’s biggest challenges.

Water shortages are becoming more common, and even routine outdoor work is growing increasingly difficult.

“Sometimes people go to the beach at night just to find some relief from the heat. Even a brief spell of rain feels like a blessing now,” he says. “The problem is only going to get worse.”

His observations echo broader climate trends in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Climate Central’s analysis shows that Mumbai experiences an average of 206 dangerous humid heat days annually, while nearby Dombivli and Thane record even higher numbers. The conditions he describes are reflected in current forecasts. Climate Central projected a daily high wet-bulb temperature of 25.6°C in Mumbai on June 23, a level considered dangerous humid heat.

Surfing Through a Hotter Coastline

Further south, the effects are also being felt along India’s coast.

Rajaguru, a surfing instructor in Puducherry, says summers are arriving earlier than before, often beginning in February instead of March.

“We go surfing early in the morning, but even then the heat feels much more intense than it used to,” he says. “Sunburns and skin rashes are becoming common. Summer arrives with extreme heat, while the monsoon season increasingly brings cyclones.”

He has also noticed rising sea temperatures and changes in water conditions that affect both tourism and outdoor activities.

For people whose livelihoods depend on spending long hours outdoors, humid heat is becoming more than an inconvenience—it is becoming an occupational hazard.

The Vulnerability Gap

These experiences reflect a larger challenge facing India. The impacts of Humid Heat in India are magnified by inequalities in access to cooling, housing and reliable electricity.

Between 1995 and 2024, the country experienced 430 extreme weather events, resulting in more than 80,000 deaths and economic losses exceeding USD 170 billion. Rapid urbanisation has intensified the urban heat island effect, making cities significantly hotter than surrounding rural areas.

The latest Climate Change in the Indian Mind survey found that 84 percent of Indians report experiencing the effects of global warming. Yet only 15 percent of households own an air conditioner and 27 percent have access to an air cooler.

Even for those with cooling systems, reliable electricity is not guaranteed. Around 66 percent of Indians experience power disruptions on a typical day, even as demand surges during heatwaves. On May 21, 2026, India’s peak electricity consumption reached a record 270 gigawatts.

Despite being the world’s third-largest emitter of carbon dioxide, India’s per-capita emissions remain relatively low, reflecting deep inequalities in energy consumption and access.

For millions of people, escaping extreme heat is simply not an option.

When the Air Stops Offering Relief

Dangerous Humid Heat in India is already reshaping how people live, work and survive. As temperatures and humidity continue to rise, the boundary between uncomfortable and life-threatening conditions is becoming increasingly thin.

For millions of Indians, the challenge is no longer adapting to hotter days. It is adapting to air that no longer offers relief. As humidity rises alongside temperatures, surviving heat may become as much about access to cooling and electricity as it is about climate itself.

The future of climate adaptation may begin not in policy documents or air-conditioned offices, but in homes, buses, streets and workplaces where the heat is already impossible to ignore.

Climate Risk to Data Centres is emerging as a critical challenge for India’s digital ambitions. A new global study warns that extreme heat and infrastructure disruptions could threaten planned data centres in some of the country’s fastest-growing technology hubs.

Data centres are becoming an indispensable part of modern economies. They are often promoted as projects that generate employment and boost local economies. Yet, their rapid expansion is increasingly colliding with the realities of rising climate risks.

A new report released by climate risk consultancy XDI warns that some of the world’s fastest-growing destinations for data centre investment are also emerging as climate-risk hotspots. India, one of the fastest-growing digital economies, ranks 11th globally in terms of physical climate risk to planned data centre infrastructure.

Climate Risk to Data Centres Challenges India’s Digital Ambitions

The report, 2026 Global Analysis of Planned Data Centres for Physical Climate Risk and Resilience, assessed 2,595 planned data centres worldwide. It analyzed the risks of direct physical damage from climate hazards, operational disruptions caused by extreme heat, and indirect threats due to failures in supporting infrastructure such as electricity, water supply, telecommunications, and transport.

Climate Risks to Data Centres & The Southern States

While India narrowly misses the top ten in overall physical risk rankings, the findings on heat-related disruptions are more concerning. States including Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Karnataka have been identified among the top 30 regions worldwide with the highest projected operational disruption risk due to extreme heat for planned data centres.

The warning comes at a time when India is investing heavily in digital infrastructure to support artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and data storage. However, the study suggests that the long-term viability of these investments could depend as much on climate resilience as on technological capability.

Extreme Heat Threatens Operations

According to XDI, South Asia has one of the highest proportions of high-risk planned data centres globally. Facilities in the region are already classified as high risk under low-resilience construction settings, and this risk is projected to increase sharply by the end of the century. Europe is exposed to a 289% increase in average damage risk by 2100, even though it has only 7% of planned data centres at high risk.

“Much of the debate has focused on energy demand and water consumption. But physical climate risk is becoming an increasingly important consideration in its own right” Dr. Karl Mallon, Founder and Head of Science and Technology at XDI.

“The question is no longer simply where the next generation of digital infrastructure gets built, but whether those assets can remain operational, insurable, and economically resilient over their intended life,” he added.

Extreme heat is emerging as one of the biggest operational threats to data centres globally. Facilities depend on large-scale cooling systems to maintain servers and prevent outages. Rising temperatures increase cooling costs, place greater stress on electricity grids, and raise the risk of service interruptions.

The report finds that countries such as India, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, and Spain already record some of the highest projected operational disruption risks from heat, with more than 75% of analysed facilities classified as high risk.

A Window to Build Climate Resilience

The report also highlights the importance of indirect risks. A data centre may be designed to withstand extreme weather, but it remains vulnerable if surrounding infrastructure fails. Power outages, water shortages, damaged roads, or disruptions to telecommunications networks can all affect operations.

XDI noted that a separate analysis of data centres in Europe found that productivity losses become ten times higher when these indirect risks are considered alongside direct physical damage. The study, however, emphasises that future risks are not inevitable. Decisions taken during the planning stage, including site selection, engineering standards, and investments in climate resilience, can significantly reduce vulnerability before facilities are built. As global investment pours into AI and digital infrastructure, the report argues that climate resilience must become a central component of planning.

“Future risk is not fixed,” Mallon said. “Unlike existing infrastructure, planned data centres create a window of opportunity. Decisions made today may materially influence future performance, insurability, and operational continuity.” For India, where digital ambitions are expanding rapidly, the report serves as a reminder that the infrastructure powering the future must also be prepared for a warmer and more climate-uncertain world.

A new policy brief released by IPE Global has warned that the ongoing geopolitical instability in West Asia could place nearly 10–12 million Indian livelihoods at risk, particularly in sectors linked to energy, agriculture and migration-dependent economies. But the report also argues that the same crisis could accelerate India’s transition toward a green economy capable of generating nearly 35 million jobs by 2047.

The peer-reviewed study, “Paving a Green Transition: A New Social Contract Amid West Asia Crisis,” released in New Delhi on June 18, outlines 30 policy recommendations aimed at aligning India’s existing climate, agriculture and industrial schemes into a coordinated transition strategy.

According to the report, India already has the institutional architecture needed for a large-scale green transition through programmes such as PM-KUSUM, the National Green Hydrogen Mission, Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes, the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), PM-Pranam and RDSS. However, these schemes currently operate in silos, limiting their impact.

“The West Asia crisis has exposed how closely energy security, food security, livelihoods and climate resilience are tied together,” said Ashwajit Singh, Founder and Managing Director of IPE Global. “When 10 to 12 million livelihoods sit at the intersection of SDG 2, SDG 7, SDG 8 and SDG 13, the only meaningful response is convergence.”

India’s energy dependence under scrutiny

The report notes that India imports nearly 85% of its crude oil requirements and continues to depend heavily on imported fertilisers and fossil fuel-linked industrial inputs.

This dependence, researchers argue, leaves the country vulnerable to geopolitical shocks originating in West Asia. Rising fuel prices, supply chain disruptions and inflationary pressures have already begun affecting key sectors.

“The numbers tell a story India cannot afford to ignore,” said Abinash Mohanty, Head of Climate Change and Sustainability Practice at IPE Global and lead author of the study. “With 85 per cent of our crude oil imported, and 10 to 12 million livelihoods exposed to a single geopolitical shock from West Asia, the fragility is real. But so is the opportunity.”

The report estimates that India could mobilise a funding cushion of nearly USD 42–53 billion from existing schemes without requiring substantial new financing. It further projects that a coordinated green transition could contribute to a USD 15 trillion green economy by 2070.

Kerala among states most vulnerable

The study identifies Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar as among the states most exposed to job losses linked to the West Asia crisis because of their high dependence on Gulf migration and remittances.

Kerala alone could see between 1.5 and 2 million livelihoods at risk, according to the estimates. However, the report projects that the state’s green jobs absorption potential may remain relatively limited at around one million jobs by 2047.

In contrast, states such as Rajasthan and Gujarat — with stronger renewable energy infrastructure and industrial corridors — are expected to generate significantly larger green employment opportunities. Rajasthan alone could create nearly five million green jobs, while Gujarat may generate around 4.5 million.

The report describes this as a “geographic mismatch problem,” where workers most vulnerable to job losses are not necessarily located in regions where new green jobs are emerging. Researchers say this has implications for migration policy, skilling programmes and regional investment planning.

Farmers as energy producers

One of the central recommendations in the study is to reframe PM-KUSUM into a “Farmer-as-Energy-Producer” programme. The proposal aims to enable farmers to generate and sell surplus solar power to distribution companies through decentralised solar infrastructure.

According to the report, this intervention alone could create 15 lakh green jobs, generate 50,000 MW of agri-solar capacity and increase annual farmer incomes by ₹25,000–40,000. It could also reduce nearly 70 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions annually.

The agriculture sector recommendations also include scaling natural farming to 50 million hectares, integrating carbon markets into agriculture and strengthening climate-resilient farming systems through digital platforms and weather-linked advisory services.

Green hydrogen and industrial transition

The report argues that India’s clean energy transition must move beyond renewable energy generation and focus equally on storage, grid infrastructure and industrial demand creation.

It proposes an Emergency Grid Acceleration Programme to support India’s target of 500 GW renewable energy capacity. According to the study, achieving this target could generate 3.4 million jobs and avoid nearly 700 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually.

The National Green Hydrogen Mission is also positioned as a major employment driver, with the report estimating 1.5–2 million jobs across the hydrogen value chain.

On the industrial front, the study recommends establishing a National Green Steel Mission to protect India’s export competitiveness amid tightening carbon regulations such as the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

Researchers estimate that industrial decarbonisation, EV manufacturing and green supply chains together could generate over 20 million green jobs.

‘Cost of delay is now higher than transition’

The report concludes that India’s challenge is no longer technological but institutional. Most of the necessary policies, financing structures and sectoral schemes already exist, it argues. What remains missing is coordination across sectors and ministries.

“This crisis isn’t asking India to choose between resilience and growth,” Mohanty said. “It’s showing us they were always the same investment.”

The study ultimately frames India’s green transition not merely as a climate obligation, but as a strategic response to energy insecurity, geopolitical instability and long-term economic resilience.

“The cost of delays in action now exceeds the cost of transition,” the report states.