Heatwave Alert! If CO2 levels double by 2050, Delhi to turn 5 degrees warmer from 2080 to 2099, says report

The number of days with heat index higher than 35 degrees Celsius have increased from 40 days in 1950s to 100 days in 2020s, revealed a latest report by Greenpeace India on Friday. The heat index is what the temperature feels like to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature. The report also revealed that if carbon dioxide levels double up by 2050, Delhi will become five degrees warmer between the years, 2080 and 2099. 

Carbon dioxide levels doubling by 2050 is one of the projections of the IPCC Working Group III report, which was released recently.  

The report also warned that in the same scenario, the cities of Mumbai and Chennai will become warmer by 5 and 4 degrees Celsius as compared to present levels.  

Also Read: What is a heatwave, how is it declared, and what are the many types of alerts in India?

The report is significant as India is currently experiencing a deadly heat wave.  

India saw its hottest March in over a century, and many cities like the national capital, New Delhi, experienced temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius on most days of April.  

Watch: Four heat waves devastate northern India, blaze in New Delhi's Bhalswa landfill worsens

Power demand has also reached new heights and more than two dozen people have died of suspected heat strokes.  

In Delhi, the highest temperature record of 47.3°C was set in 1956, according to the data from the Climate Change Knowledge Portal, World Bank Group. The high temperature is fatal and causes severe health issues, but it does not appear every day. Instead, the same research provides another alarming dataset.  

According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the heatwave spell from Friday may see the mercury soaring to 44 degrees Celsius. 

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