This study develops a Heat Risk Index (HRI) for 734 districts across India to assess what kind of heat risks exist at the district level. It uses the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s framework of what constitutes hazard, exposure and vulnerability, along with combining four decades of temperature data (1982-2022) with satellite imagery, demographic information, and socio-economic and health indicators.

Some of the key findings of the study published in May last year include: 57 percent of Indian districts, home to nearly 76 percent of the country’s population, are currently at high to very high heat risk. While the number of extremely hot days is increasing across India, the rise in very warm nights is even more pronounced.

The report can be bought here.