Rise in Wet-bulb temperature will make environment dangerous to inhabit
In the second part of the recently published IPCC sixth assessment report, regional analysis of cities and countries is reported for the first time. According to the report, India falls in the category of countries where people will be strongly affected by the increasing sea level. The report alerts that by the year 2050, about 35 million people in India may face annual or constant floods. This figure can go up to 45 to 50 million by the end of this century. “Globally, heat and humidity will create conditions beyond human tolerance if emissions are not rapidly eliminated; India is among the places that will experience these intolerable conditions,” the report says.
The report focuses on the wet-bulb temperature, a measure of the mixture of humidity and heat. If the wet-bulb temperature goes beyond 31°C, the environment becomes very dangerous to inhabit for animals and humans. On the other hand, being in the wet-bulb temperature of 35°C or more for 6 hours is entirely unsurvivable for human beings. According to the IPCC report, wet-bulb temperature is mostly around 25 to 30°C and hardly crosses 31°C. In case current carbon emissions are not reduced, northern and coastal India may face wet-bulb temperatures that are inhabitable for humans at the end of this century. The report also said Patna and Luck now are among the places that are likely to reach the extreme wet-bulb temperature of 35°C if emissions are not reduced. Mumbai, Chennai, Indore and Bhubaneshwar are the cities at risk of reaching the wet-bulb temperature of 32 to 34°C if emissions remain constant in these locations.