A Heat Vulnerability Index: Spatial Patterns of Exposure, Sensitivity and Adaptive Capacity for Urbanites of Four Cities of India

Suresh Kumar Rathi, Soham Chakraborty, Saswat Kishore Mishra, Ambarish Dutta and Lipika Nanda
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Suresh Kumar Rathi: Department of Research, MAMTA Health Institute for Mother and Child, New Delhi 110048, India
Soham Chakraborty: Indian Institute of Public Health, Public Health Foundation of India, Bhubaneswar 751013, India
Saswat Kishore Mishra: Centre for Health Care Management, Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad 500082, India
Ambarish Dutta: Indian Institute of Public Health, Public Health Foundation of India, Bhubaneswar 751013, India
Lipika Nanda: Department of Multisectoral Planning, Public Health Foundation of India, Gurugram 122002, India

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 19, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: Extreme heat and heat waves have been established as disasters which can lead to a great loss of life. Several studies over the years, both within and outside of India, have shown how extreme heat events lead to an overall increase in mortality. However, the impact of extreme heat, similar to other disasters, depends upon the vulnerability of the population. This study aims to assess the extreme heat vulnerability of the population of four cities with different characteristics across India. This cross-sectional study included 500 households from each city across the urban localities (both slum and non-slum) of Ongole in Andhra Pradesh, Karimnagar in Telangana, Kolkata in West Bengal and Angul in Odisha. Twenty-one indicators were used to construct a household vulnerability index to understand the vulnerability of the cities. The results have shown that the majority of the households fell under moderate to high vulnerability level across all the cities. Angul and Kolkata were found to be more highly vulnerable as compared to Ongole and Karimnagar. Further analysis also revealed that household vulnerability is more significantly related to adaptive capacity than sensitivity and exposure. Heat Vulnerability Index can help in identifying the vulnerable population and scaling up adaptive practices.

Keywords: heat vulnerability index; exposure; sensitivity; adaptive capacity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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