Alarming Climate Change! India Would Lose 101-Billion Labour Hours

The world is rapidly pacing towards global warming, despite continued efforts from countries to curtail their increasing carbon footprint. A new study proves that since India has a substantial, heavy labour workforce, climate change could result in a loss of over 100 billion work hours annually if the world is to become warmer by four degrees Celsius.

The study titled, Global Labour Loss due to humid heat exposure underestimated for outdoor workers; estimated that labour losses calculated by the working-age population engaged in outdoor labour are the maximum in South, East and Southeast Asia, where a significant number of people are involved in agriculture.

China's Labour Work Loss Is 21-72 Billion

The Times of India quoted a study by Nature Communications that mentioned that the loss of heavy labour work hours in India due to heat is estimated to be 100 billion hours. The experts studied the same climate models and mentioned that the loss of hours could be as high as 259 billion hours.

However, in China, which has a similar population count as India, the loss of labour work is estimated to be only 21 billion to 72 billion hours since the country has transitioned away from heavy labour industries like agriculture and manual labour.

Total Loss Of $2.1 Trillion

Apart from India, other countries that exaggerated overall losses are Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia and Sudan. Moreover, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are most affected by heavy labour. The study proved that humid heat primarily impacts the world population that works outdoors.

The overall heat-induced labour productivity losses are estimated at $2.1 trillion in 2017, and in several countries, the rate accounts for over 10 per cent of their annual gross domestic product.

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