Heat Index- Background, Significance & Utility

In light of the recent spate of severe heat waves claiming lives, the IMD released a heat index on an experimental basis. This brings focus onto heat indices as critical tools in tackling the impacts of heat wave incidents.

Background:

• The human body uses sweating to cool itself down in hot weather.
• Thanks to urbanization and climate change, the body’s ability to regulate temperature is being affected.
• This is because the evaporation rate from the body is decreased when both the temperature and the atmospheric humidity are high. This makes the body warmer