How rising heat is costing Indians nighttime sleep every year
India Today · Sonali Acharjee ·
A Lancet report that flagged it also found that Indians suffered an average 10.6 heatwave days annually in 2016-25, half of them due to human-driven climate change
A Lancet report that flagged it also found that Indians suffered an average 10.6 heatwave days annually in 2016-25, half of them due to human-driven climate change
Sleepless summer nights may be doing more than leaving Indians tired and irritable. Rising temperatures are now costing people an estimated 64 hours of sleep every year, according to a new Lancet report that warns climate change is increasingly affecting health, productivity and livelihoods across the country.
The 2026 Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, released on October 27, found that Indians lost an average of 64 hours of sleep annually between 2021 and 2025 because of high nighttime temperatures. That is nearly eight full nights of sleep, assuming eight hours a night, and about three hours more than the annual average recorded between 1986 and 2005.
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