In 2021, no deaths were caused due to heat waves in India. This was a significant decrease from the previous year's number of 27. The highest number of deaths was recorded in 2015 when over two thousand people died due to heat waves across the nation.

This dataset consists of the number of deaths due to heatwaves reported by different agencies/organizations. These are listed below: 1. MoSPI or MoES: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) published data on heat wave deaths in its annual Envistats report until 2021. Since 2022, the data has been collated from the Ministry of Earth Sciences since in the Envistats report, the source is mentioned as the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Ministry of Earth Sciences. 2. National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA): The data reported by this organization in some of its reports and workshop content has been collated. Values shared by Ministry of Health in the Parliament , which started recording the figures since 2015, is same as this until 2022. 3. World Meteorological Organization (WMO) 4. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)'s Accidental Deaths and Suicides India report: Data on heat stroke deaths reported by police departments at state level is presented in the report, which has been collated in the dataset. 5. IMD: Data on heatwave deaths reported by the IMD in its annual reports has been collated separately since the figures are slightly different from that reported by MoSPI/MoES.

About *** heat wave days were recorded across India in 2022, a decrease compared to the previous year. In recent years, these events were more intense in the northern regions of the country, coinciding with droughts, water shortage and an already inadequate infrastructure. The impact of heatwaves Illnesses and deaths are an obvious consequence of the impact of heat waves in India. With record breaking heat year after year, temperatures were recorded in the high 40s and low ** degree Celsius. For comparison, core human temperatures of ** degree Celsius are categorized as fever, requiring medical attention. In extreme cases, permanent brain damage can occur, or even death. Precaution and mitigation Inconsistent rains or unmitigated torrential rains, along with depleting groundwater reserves and droughts have led to severe water shortages across vast areas of the country, leading to a dependence on water tankers. These include cities like Chennai, Coimbatore, parts of Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh. India’s National Disaster Management Authority aims to keep heat related deaths at single digits. Measures to achieve that include increasing public awareness and distributing free water. In parts of Rajasthan, advisory actions were followed by pouring water onto asphalt roads to prevent them from melting during summer.

Heat stroke caused about 730 deaths across India in 2022, almost double the number of deaths recorded in the previous year. During the period in consideration, the highest number of deaths due to heat stroke occurred in 2015.

In 2024, the United States experienced 29 natural disasters, which made it the most natural catastrophe-prone country in the world that year. Indonesia and China came second on that list, with 20 and 18 natural disasters occurring in the same year, respectively. Storms were the most common type of natural disaster in 2024. Types of natural disasters There are many different types of natural disasters that occur worldwide, including earthquakes, droughts, storms, floods, volcanic activity, extreme temperatures, landslides, and wildfires. Overall, there were 398 natural disasters registered all over the world in 2023. Costs of natural disasters Due to their destructive nature, natural disasters take a severe toll on populations and countries. Tropical cyclones have the biggest economic impact in the countries that they occur. In 2024, tropical cyclones caused damage estimated at more than 145 billion U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, the number of deaths due to natural disasters neared 18,100 that year. The Heat Wave in Saudi Arabia had the highest death toll, with 1,301 fatalities. Scientists predict that some natural disasters such as storms, floods, landslides, and wildfires will be more frequent and more intense in the future, creating both human and financial losses.