The ‘Statement on Climate of India during 2020’ issued by Climate Research and Services (CRS) of India Meteorological Department (IMD), Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India mentioned that 2020 was the 8th warmest year in India since nation-wide records commenced in 1901.
i.But, this is substantially low than the highest warming observed over India during 2016 (+0.71⁰C)
ii.Past decade (2001-2010/ 2011-2020) was also the warmest decade on record with exception of 0.23⁰C /0.34⁰C.
iii.In 2020, the average annual mean land surface air temperature across India was +0.290⁰C above normal (based on 1981-2010 data).
Points to be Noted
As per ‘The State of the Global Climate 2020’ released by World Meteorological Organisation(WMO), the global mean surface temperature during January to October, 2020 was +1.2⁰C
Highlights of the Statement:
Warmest Years
i.The 5 warmest years on record are the following namely, 2016 (+0.71⁰C), 2009 (+0.55⁰C), 2017(+0.541⁰C), 2010 (+0.539⁰C), and 2015 (+0.42⁰C).
ii.Of the 15 warmest years, 12 were during the recent fifteen years (2006-2020).
Average annual mean temperature of India(2010-2020)
The average annual mean temperature of India during 1901-2020 displayed an increasing trend of 0.62⁰C/100 years with increasing trend in maximum temperature (0.99⁰C/100 years) and relatively lower increasing trend (0.24⁰C/100 years) in minimum temperature.
Rainfall
The 2020 total annual rainfall across India was 109% of its Long Period Average(LPA) of 117.7 cms based on the data of 1961-2010.
Cyclones
During 2020, 5 cyclones were formed over the North Indian Ocean, namely Super cyclonic Storm ‘Amphan’(named by Thailand), Very Severe Cyclonic Storms ‘Nivar’(named by Iran) & ‘Gati’(named by India), Severe Cyclonic Storm ‘Nisarga’(named by Bangladesh) and Cyclonic Storm ‘Burevi’(named by Maldives).
High Impact Weather Events
During 2020, Bihar & Uttar Pradesh were the most adversely affected states which reported over 350 deaths from each state mainly due to thunderstorm, lightning & cold wave events.
During pre-monsoon, monsoon & post-monsoon seasons, more than 600 deaths were reported from different parts of the country were mainly due to Heavy rainfall & flood related incidents
Recent Related News:
As per the United in Science 2020 report, the second in a series highlighted that the world is nearing to pass the temperature limit set by global leaders 5 years ago and may exceed it in the next decade or so. In the next 5 year, the world has about a 1-in-4 chance to experience a year that is hot enough to keep the global temperature at
2.7 degrees (1.5 °C-degrees Celsius) above pre-industrial times.
About India Meteorological Department (IMD):
Director General of Metrology(DGM)- Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra
Headquarters- New Delhi, Delhi
