While India was battling with COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21, death, displacement, and damages from climate change related events like floods, cyclones, droughts, and heatwaves added massive additional burdens to the system. According to government data[1], almost every Indian state was affected by an extreme weather event in 2020-21. The Global Climate Risk Index 2021 ranked India among the top ten countries to be affected by the devastating impact of climate change[2]. Scientists, health professionals and indigenous communities have been warning us about the looming threat of climate change for over a quarter century—with a sharp rise in heat stress events, cyclones, floods, and drought, we are indeed witnessing it firsthand.
