Extreme heat caused $159 bn income loss last year: Report

New Delhi, October 20

India suffered an income loss of $159 billion, 5.4 per cent of its gross domestic product in the service, manufacturing, agriculture, and construction sectors due to extreme heat in 2021, according to the Climate Transparency Report 2022 compiled by an international partnership of organisations.

167 bn potential labour hours lost due to heat exposure

36 mn hectare crops damaged between 2016 and 2021

Climate change-induced extreme weather events are causing significant economic losses across all sectors, with agriculture being the most vulnerable, accounting for 16 per cent of Indian GDP, and providing nearly half of the employment, the report stated.

Several areas of Hindukush Karakoram Himalaya, the main driver of the Indian monsoon and a source of 10 major Asian rivers, experienced reduced snowfall and glacial retreat.

Heat exposure in the country led to the loss of 167 billion potential labour hours, a 39 per cent increase from the period between 1990 and 1999.

Extreme events such as cyclones, flash floods, floods and landslides damaged crops over 36 million hectares — a $3.75 billion loss to farmers — between 2016 and 2021.

It is feared that the annual damage from tropical cyclones and river flooding at 3°C global warming would be 4.6 to 5.1 times than what it would be experienced at the 1.5°C level.

Labour productivity is projected to decline by five per cent from the 1986-2006 reference period as a result of 1.5°C of global warming — 2.1 times at 2.5°C level and 2.7 times at 3°C level.

Increased precipitation, along with change in land use with increased urbanisation, is the main cause of increase in surface run-off in India. Prolonged waterlogging may alter the soil moisture content in many places, the report stated.

Two-thirds of Indian agriculture is rain-fed, and thus highly prone to changes in rainfall, the report pointed ominously.

At 1.5°C level, the national maize and wheat yield is projected to decrease by three per cent and five per cent, respectively. This loss may increase by a magnitude of 2.5 times for maize and 3.2 times for wheat at 3°C of warming.

In India, local precipitation is projected to increase by 6 per cent from the reference period of 1986-2006 at 1.5°C of warming. Under a 3°C warming scenario, precipitation will increase by 3 times the precipitation anticipated at 1.5°C of warming.

The rainfall pattern in India has changed in the past 30 years impacting many economic activities such as agriculture, forestry and fisheries.

Snowfall in India is expected to decrease in the 1.5°C scenario by 13 per cent when compared with the reference period’s snowfall levels. At 3°C, the decrease is expected to be 2.4 times the 1.5°C scenario.