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This March was the hottest on record globally, the 10th\xa0month in a row to hit this peak. This has led to a 1.58 degree Celsius spike in the global average temperature, compared to pre-industrial levels. This doesn\u2019t feel surprising \u2013 most parts of India have been sweltering since last month, the India Meteorological Department or IMD hadd forecast heatwave conditions in parts of at least 10 States last week and it's only going to get worse in May. This year, the heat is even believed to have impacting voting in our crucial general election, and the Election Commission has now set up a taskforce to oversee heatwave conditions.\xa0\nWe\u2019re used to scorching summers in India \u2013 but experts say that heatwaves are now arriving earlier in the year, are more frequent and are also lasting longer \u2013 which means they have a huge impact on the health of humans and animals, on our agriculture and food, on our cities, our water resources and our energy supplies.\xa0\nHow does the unrelenting heat affect our bodies and our long-term health into the future? Do our food crops become less nutritious as temperatures rise? Do India\u2019s standards for heatwaves need updating? Where is our country placed, globally, when it comes to extreme climate events and can we expect more of these in the near future?\xa0\n\xa0\nGuest: Poornima Prabhakaran, Director, Centre for Health Analytics Research and Trends (CHART), Trivedi School of Biosciences, Ashoka University\xa0\nHost: Zubeda Hamid\xa0\nEdited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian.