An analysis of temperature trends in the country — both annual and seasonal — from 1901 to 2017 by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has revealed that India has been getting warmer continuously, consistently and rapidly.
As per the data released by the CSC on Monday, India has witnessed the warmest years in the last fifteen years due to climate change.
“The annual mean temperature in India has increased by about 1.2 degrees Celsius since the beginning of the 20th century,” CSE said in their report. “Annual mean temperature in India has rapidly increased since 1995. At this rate of increase, it will breach the 1.5-degree mark within the next two decades. 1.5 degrees Celsius is the aspirational target set under the Paris Agreement,” CSE further said.
Citing the data, CSE Director General Sunita Narain expressed concern over US President Donald Trump pulling his country out of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
In a Facebook live while releasing the data, Sunita Narain said, “With the US exiting the Paris Agreement, controlling emissions and temperature is now a tougher task for the world. We appeal to the global community to come together and take strong actions.”
In three out of four seasons (or nine months in a year), temperature in India has already increased by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius since the beginning of the 20th century and in Winters and pre- monsoon (summers) and post-monsoon seasons have seen rapidly increasing warming.
Chandra Bhushan, Deputy Director General, CSE, “India is warming and warming rapidly. The implications of this fundamental fact are serious for economic, social and ecological well-being of the country.” “We are experiencing frequent extreme weather events, and our weather is becoming unpredictable. losses due to extreme weather events are mounting and it is our poor who are suffering the pains of climate change.”
The frequency and intensity of extreme weather events is increasing with rising temperature. For example, in winters of 2017 when the average temperature was 2.95 degrees C higher than the 1901-1930 baseline, the worst drought in a century happened in southern India: Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala were worst-hit, with 330 million people coming under the grip of drought.
Similarly, during summers of 2010, when the average temperature was 2.05 degrees Celsius higher than the baseline, again the highest in recorded history, severe heat wave conditions prevailed over large parts of India. These conditions claimed more than 300 lives. In addition, four cyclonic storms hit India that year.