IIT Delhi to Conduct a Study on Heat Stress Tolerance Thresholds
A study on the effects of Heat Stress on the people of India will be undertaken by the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi along with 5 other institutes across the country. The study will help the government to make some heat management plans keeping in mind the effects of Global Warming.
With the onset of the Summer season, certain parts of the country will be experiencing extreme heat, which is bound to affect the daily lives of the common people. The Centre for Atmospheric Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) will be conducting a study that will help them build an “India-Specific Heat Tolerance Thresholds”. The study will be a part of a project undertaken by IIT Delhi and 5 other institutes in India, by the name of “Heat Stress Index for India: Projection for Near Future”.
Cities like Delhi, experience heatwaves that have affected the lives of the people living in and around the area. This causes heat stress, which is basically stress caused to the human being after being exposed to heat. According to the sources, the project will help develop measures or heat management plans that will help ease the lives of the people living in the country, especially since Global Warming is continuously worsening the climate conditions of India.
Also Read:IIT Delhi to Provide Joint PhD Programme with Chiao Tung University
The Department of Science and Technology from the Government of India has funded one of the major segments of the study, under Govt. of India’s Climate Change and Human Health Programme. The segment focuses on conducting a survey of the population with respect to their impression of heat exposure as well as conducting experiments that include direct measurement of heat stress as well as thermal imaging of the physiology of Human Beings under the exposure of heat.
Also Read:IIT Delhi Targets R&D Funding From External Sources for 550 Crores
The Project’s Principle Investigator, Prof Sagnik Dey, faculty from CAS at IIT Delhi stated that the study will be of great help to the government to understand the situation as well as draft the apt heat management plan. He added that to a certain extent heat stroke can be avoided, however, other illnesses such as headache, renal failure, cell damage, fatigue as well as many neurological problems along with kidney stones may still be few things that will affect the people. The other five institutes that have partnered with IIT Delhi are IIT Kanpur, IIPH Gandhinagar, RKMVU Kolkata, IISER Bhopal and SRU Chennai.