India could suffer heatwaves that 'break the human survivability limit,' World Bank says

• Parts of India could become too hot for human survival in future heatwaves, a report warned.
• Indian employees already work in "potentially life-threatening temperatures" at times, it said.

A new report from the World Bank warns that temperatures in parts of India could push beyond what is survivable by humans within the span of a few years.

The details were cited by several Indian outlets and UK newspaper The Independent, which said they had advance sight of the report.

The report, due for release on Saturday, includes numerous recommendations for investing in cooling technologies in India, where demand is predicted to rapidly increase in the face of a warming planet.

"Soon India could become one of the first places in the world to experience heat waves that break the human survivability limit," the document said, per the reports.

It was prepared on the occasion of a two-day conference between the government of India's Kerala region and the World Bank, The Independent reported.

India already experienced a crushing, weekslong heatwave earlier this year, where temperatures in several cities reached passed 110°F.

It represented a peak for soaring temperatures worldwide, with parts of the US and Europe also struggling to adapt to high humidity and waves of wildfires.

In India's capital of New Delhi, the temperature reached 114°F — and such heatwaves "are increasing with alarming frequency," the report said.

Climate scientists overwhelmingly attribute long-term temperature change to human-caused carbon emissions.

If India does not curb its carbon emissions, its heatwaves are "likely to last 25 times longer by 2036-65," the World Bank report said, citing a 2021 assessment by the G20.

According to the World Bank report, India will need "massive cooling infrastructure across all sectors" in order to protect vulnerable workers.

"Up to 75 percent of India's workforce, or 380 million people, depend on heat-exposed labor, at times working in potentially life-threatening temperature," the report said.

The impact both on labor productivity — and human health — is severe, with many working within "potentially life-threatening temperatures" at times, it said.

But, with the average income being $2 a day, conventional electric fans or air conditioning units are out of reach for many, it said.