Being a land with a unique climatic regime, including two monsoon seasons, two cyclone seasons, hot and cold weather seasons, cold waves and fog, India is vulnerable to several extreme weather events. A spatio-temporal analysis of these weather extremes is extremely essential to help understand India’s vulnerability potential, and hence minimise the adverse impacts on the population.

Cyclone Phailin crossed into Odisha and adjoining northern Andhra Pradesh near Gopalpur on October 12, 2013. India Meteorological Department (IMD) accurately predicted the genesis, intensity, track and point and time of landfall well in advance. As a result, the loss of human lives due to the cyclone was reduced to just 22 persons.

Heatwaves are no longer climate anomalies; they are the new normal. As India enters an era of prolonged, intense, and unpredictable thermal extremes, its rural backbone is showing signs of distress. In this episode of Death by Fahrenheit, the conversation journeys through sun-scorched deserts, struggling farms, and overheated cowsheds to unravel the real-world consequences of rising temperatures. With reflections rooted in lived experience and field-based expertise, the episode unpacks how surging heat is redefining the rules of agriculture and livestock management across India[1]. From disrupted physiology of field crops to faltering milk yields, from failing fruit orchards to overheated poultry farms, the story of rural India in a warming world is told through science, empathy, and shocking hard-earned wisdom. This dialogue calls for rethinking climate responses, investing in early warnings, and rediscovering the strength of indigenous systems.