IIT Delhi studying heat stress levels across India

NEW DELHI, MAY 30: In the backdrop of rising mercury levels, the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences (CAS), IIT Delhi is conducting a study to determine heat stress tolerance thresholds across the country. Heat stress is stress felt by the body when exposed to heat, and the threshold defines the body’s ability to regulate its core temperature.

The study includes a population-based survey, funded by the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, in which data is collected on stress conditions, thermal imaging of body under heat stress, and people’s perception on heat exposure.

Elaborating on the research, Prof. Sagnik Dey from CAS, IIT Delhi said, “Under searing heat human body struggles and beyond a threshold stress condition, they cannot tolerate any more and can suffer heat stroke. Since India has diverse climatic conditions, it is important to define the thresholds of stress in different parts of the country. This will help the government to formulate appropriate heat management plan, especially when heat condition is expected to worsen in India under global warming.”

This study is part of the Heat Stress Index for India: projection for near future (HIIPROF) project undertaken by IIT Delhi, in partnership with 5 other institutes of India. The partner institutes are IIT Kanpur, IISER Bhopal, RKMVU Kolkata, SRU Chennai, and IIPH Gandhinagar.