Network Capital

Network Capital

Share this post

Network Capital
Network Capital
From Delhi to Chennai - You don't need a heat wave to feel the burn every summer
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More

From Delhi to Chennai - You don't need a heat wave to feel the burn every summer

From Network Capital’s Writer-in-Residence, Priyanka

Network Capital's avatar
Network Capital
Feb 07, 2024
∙ Paid

Share this post

Network Capital
Network Capital
From Delhi to Chennai - You don't need a heat wave to feel the burn every summer
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Share

Today’s newsletter comes from Priyanka. She is Network Capital’s Write-in-Residence. You can read her writing here.

The world we live in is getting hotter. We don't need science and scientists to experience this truth. We feel the rising temperatures every summer in the sweat that we constantly wipe off our brows, in the increasing electricity bills as we struggle to sleep and finally in the abject fear we have in stepping out onto our roads on a hot afternoon. 

We intuitively know that the environment around us is changing but this truth is even more jarring when numbers are attached to it. 

My friends and I scored tickets to the India Australia World Cup match in Chennai in October. But we only went for the second innings because the heat at 2pm was unbearable.
If we suffered, can you imagine the state of the players?

By now, most of you would have seen that we have managed to break yet another record!

It's too Hot! is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber!

Records that send my heart rate up and not in a good way!

2023 has by far been the hottest year on this planet by a significant margin and is likely the world’s warmest in the last 100,000 years, according to the European Union’s climate agency.

But atmospheric temperature is just a part of this problem. Just in 2023 - 

1. Antarctic sea ice hit an extreme low

2. Glaciers in North America and the Alps saw an extreme melt season

3. Sea surface temperature hit the highest recorded temperature

4. We breached the 1.5 degrees temperature warning

5. Heatwaves arrived earlier in India than considered normal. 

6. And in Chennai, increased sea surface temperatures led to record rains in the form of Cyclone Michaung.

Click to read my story on the cyclone and resultant floods

A significant fear in regard to global warming is that it would make our planet uninhabitable. And of all the problems it could cause, my biggest fear is the unbearable heat itself and I would be surprised if it is not yours as well. 

WARNING: LOOKS LOVELY BUT CAN KILL YOU OR AT THE LEAST LEAVE YOU IN A FOUL MOOD

This fear led me to develop a morbid interest in understanding how heat affects human mortality.  

It was by chance that I came across this study - Excess Mortality Risk Due to Heat Stress in Different Climatic Zones of India

It tries to understand the vulnerability to heat stress in India using 42 years (1979−2020) of meteorological data for three cities - Delhi, Varanasi and Chennai. This is being done by studying all-cause nontrauma mortality data or deaths caused due to any disease, complication, or hazardous exposure, which have no sign of physical trauma on the body. 

This post is for paid subscribers

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Network Capital
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share

Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More