What Are We Going to Do About These Heat Waves? Lessons from India

Heat waves are arriving earlier, lasting longer, and reaching further into daily life. So what do we do before the next one arrives? Climate researcher Kartikeya Bhatotia joins Green Frequency to explain what decades of research and experimentation in India can teach a rapidly warming world. Drawing on Critical Perspectives on Extreme Heat in India, he explores why heat is more than a temperature, how housing, labor, gender, health, and access to cooling shape exposure, and why adaptation cannot be reduced to air conditioning or emergency alerts. The conversation moves through India’s pioneering heat action plans, anticipatory finance, passive cooling, parametric insurance, and the idea of a “cool economy.” India emerges not only as a country facing extreme heat, but as a source of adaptation knowledge. These strategies do not replace a fossil fuel phaseout; they show how governments can protect people from the heat already here, before the worst arrives.

Episode Guest: Kartikeya Bhatotia

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Cover Art by Laurel Wong

Theme music by Nela Ruiz

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