This edition of the EPIC India Dialogue will feature Ashwin Rode, Director, Scientific Research at EPIC, in conversation with Dr. Debolina Kundu, Director, National Institute of Urban Affairs. The conversation will be on Rode’s paper and research on “The mortality consequences of rainfall and sea level rise in a developing megacity”.

Rainfall and flooding frequently disrupt the lives of urban residents worldwide, posing significant public health risks. Rapid urbanisation is exposing larger and more vulnerable populations to these hazards, while climate change intensifies rainfall patterns and rising sea levels impair drainage systems. Despite the growing recognition and urgency of these hazards, the health impacts of rainfall remain poorly understood, and those of sea level rise are entirely unquantified. Without robust quantification, we lack a complete understanding of the health risks posed by weather and climate change, particularly in rapidly growing megacities where vulnerable populations are disproportionately affected. Here, we estimate the mortality consequences of rainfall in one of the world’s largest cities – Mumbai, India.

About our speaker:
Ashwin Rode is a Director of Scientific Research in the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, and a Fellow at the Climate Impact Lab. He received a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research focuses on the global economic impacts of climate change and has appeared in journals such as Nature and the Quarterly Journal of Economics.