India, June 22 -- A 1degC increase in annual temperature could reduce India's economic growth by 3.89 per cent, nearly twice the losses reported by earlier studies. The findings add to growing evidence that climate change is not only an environmental crisis but also a major threat to long-term economic development, a study recently published in Economic Modelling has found.

The research, conducted by Naveen Kumar and Dibyendu Maiti of Delhi School of Economics, analysed economic and temperature data from 29 Indian states between 1980 and 2019. In the report, it was found that there is a "statistically significant and negative impact of annual temperature increase on economic growth across Indian states".

India has recorded steady econom...