Suicides of nearly 60,000 Indian farmers linked to climate change, study claims

Rising temperatures and the resultant stress on India's agricultural sector may have contributed to increase in suicides over the past 30 years, research shows

Climate change may have contributed to the suicides of nearly 60,000 Indian farmers and farm workers over the past three decades, according to new research that examines the toll rising temperatures are already taking on vulnerable societies.

Illustrating the extreme sensitivity of the Indian agricultural industry to spikes in temperature, the study from the University of California, Berkeley, found an increase of just 1C on an average day during the growing season was associated with 67 more suicides.