Bhubaneswar: Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are set to make Odisha red hot. The number of hot days in the State are projected to rise by a massive 30-times from mere 1.62 days to 48 days by the end of 21st century (2100).
Such a terrifying future for Odisha has been predicted jointly by Climate Impact Lab and Tata Centre for Development (TCD).
Holding the high emission level of GHGs responsible, the report has observed that if the current trend of GHG emissions continue then the State will become hotter by 2100.
"Under the high-emission scenario, it is projected that the State will see a 3.32 degree Celsius rise in average summer temperature from 28.87 deg C to 32.19 deg C by 2100. In contrast, the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh will post a rise of 3 deg C," the report observed and added that such terrible scenarios have been visualised post an analysis of highly spatially detailed climate data from 33 global climate models.
The organisation has batted for an urgent mitigation plan to stop the rampaging affects of global warming.
Because, it takes a humungous toll on human life. The study claims that Odisha will see 42, 334 more climate-related deaths solely due to rise in temperature.
"Six states like UP (4.02 lakh), Bihar (1.35 lakh), Rajasthan (1.21 lakh), Andhra Pradesh (1.16 lakh), MP (1.08 lakh) and Maharashtra (1.06 lakh) will bear a whopping 64 per cent of temperature rise related mortality burden (15.43 lakh) by 2100," the report predicted.
As per the study, a high of 6100 people have died in India due to heat wave between 2010 and 2018. And Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and West Bengal together reported 90 per cent of total deaths.
"Post recording 2,042 deaths in year 1998, the casualties have been greatly reduced following launch of extensive awareness campaigns. Since the study projected a 30-times rise in extremely hot days, the efforts need to be amplified to build resilience, particularly for the vulnerable communities," said OSDMA CGM Pradeep Nayak.
Speaking on the occasion, Michael Greenstone, faculty director at TCD and co-founder of Climate Impact Lab, said the findings clearly reveal that the continued reliance on fossil fuels globally will greatly harm the mankind in years to come.
"This global energy challenge that requires countries to balance the need for inexpensive and reliable sources of energy that is critical for growth, while managing climate and air pollution risks is perhaps the defining challenges for our generations," he emphasised.
Amir Jina, researcher at Climate Impact lab & asst Prof at Harris Public Policy, said "The impact of carbon emissions is going to be more pronounced on societies across the globe, including India, which has already seen 2,500 deaths due to heat wave in 2015. The future is going to be even more worrying if a course correction is not embarked upon at the earliest."