Missing in India's heat action plans: What to wear, Pg13

Key Highlights:

• India faces increasingly longer and more intense heatwaves, with temperatures remaining elevated even after sunset.
• Clothing is largely absent from India's existing Heat Action Plans (HAPs), despite its critical role in regulating body temperature.
• The human body primarily cools through sweat evaporation, a process significantly influenced by the breathability and material of clothing.
• Institutional settings like schools and workplaces often mandate uniforms or dress codes that prioritize cost and durability over thermal performance, intensifying heat exposure.
• A widespread shift towards synthetic fibres, particularly polyester blends, in mass clothing systems exacerbates heat stress due to their lower breathability.
• This policy gap contributes to reduced labour productivity and increased reliance on energy-intensive cooling solutions like air conditioning.

Detailed Insights:

• The body's ability to recover from daytime heat exposure is compromised by warm nights, leading to accumulated heat stress.
• Clothing directly governs the exchange of heat and moisture from the skin, either enabling efficient cooling or trapping heat and restricting airflow.
• In institutional contexts, such as for schoolchildren, factory workers, and delivery personnel, clothing choices are often not based on climatic realities.
• Synthetic fabrics are prevalent due to their affordability and ease of maintenance, but they are generally less breathable than natural fibres.
• This lack of breathability is particularly problematic in humid conditions, where evaporative cooling is already less effective.
• The omission of clothing in policy frameworks is increasingly unsustainable, leading to significant economic losses from reduced work hours.
• A more responsive approach would integrate clothing as a component of climate adaptation infrastructure.
• Policy interventions could include incorporating breathable fabrics in school uniform policies and textile performance in occupational safety guidelines.
• Public procurement should consider thermal comfort alongside cost and durability, and textile innovation should focus on heat-resilient garments.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Heat Action Plans (HAPs): Frameworks implemented by cities/states in India to mitigate the adverse health impacts of extreme heat events.
• Thermal Stress: The overall strain experienced by the body when its core temperature deviates from the optimal range due to environmental heat.
• Evaporative Cooling: The physiological process where the body cools itself by the evaporation of sweat from the skin's surface.
• Climate Adaptation: Adjustments in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities.