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In the grip of a heatwave

With summer comes the heat and dust, a throat-parching combination that makes the forthcoming monsoon all the more welcome. A heatwave has parts of north-western and central India in its oppressive grip, sending the mercury shooting up above 45 degrees C in many places. Several lives have been lost but so far the heatwave has not been as bad as last year when temperatures approached 50 degrees C, a delay in the monsoon's onset allowed the hellish conditions to persist well into June, and more than 400 persons died. Heatwaves occur when changes in atmospheric circulation patterns result in air descending over India. The air that is moving downwards becomes compressed and heats up. Such downward movement of air also prevents the formation of clouds that would otherwise deflect some of the sunlight away and thereby reduce heating of the ground below. Global warming — a consequence of gases such as carbon dioxide produced by human activity accumulating in the atmosphere and trapping the Earth's heat — is making matters worse. Since the start of the 20th century, the global average surface temperature has risen by 0.6 degrees to 0.7 degrees C, according to the World Meteorological Organisation. The last 10 years, with the exception of 1996, have been the warmest years on record; and 2005 was probably among the four warmest years since 1861. Global warming is expected to increase the frequency of extreme weather events and there are worrying indications that the number of days with heatwave conditions has increased significantly in many places in India over the last 40 years.

Global warming is a problem that needs tackling on a global scale and India must play its part in preventing any violent change in climate. At the same time, can life be made a little more comfortable during the searing heat of summer? Once upon a time, in the words of that well-known ditty, only `mad dogs and Englishmen' went out in the mid-day sun. The rest of the world has since opted to follow suit and the high-pressure lifestyles of today allow no concessions to prevailing climatic conditions. Inevitably, such lifestyles demand electricity to run fans and other cooling devices. But electricity supply in the country has failed to keep pace with peak demand and soaring summer temperatures are often accompanied by prolonged power outages in many parts of the country. The National Electricity Policy, announced in 2005, promised electricity to all households in the country in five years — 78 million out of 138 million rural households do not have electricity — and to ensure that the demand for power will be fully met by 2012. The policy highlights the fact that the problem lies not in the inadequacy of electricity generation, but also in deficiencies in transmission and distribution and in the inefficient use of the power supplied. The hope is that some of these problems will be addressed speedily.

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