Climate India 2024: An assessment of extreme weather events

Lightnings and storms, heavy rains, floods and landslides, heatwaves, cold days and cold waves, snowfall, cloudbursts and cyclones are classified as extreme weather events by the Indian Meteorological Department. Extreme weather events killed 3,238 people and 9,457 livestock, damaged 3.2 million hectares of crops, and destroyed 235,862 houses in the first nine months of 2024,

Madhya Pradesh experienced the highest number of days with extreme weather events (176 days). It contributing to making the central region of the country the worst affected region with a total of 218 out of 274 days with extreme weather events, killing 1,001 people.

Among the states, Kerala recorded the highest number of human deaths (550), followed by Madhya Pradesh (353). As many as 1,951,801 hectares of crops were destroyed in Maharashtra alone, contributing to nearly 60 per cent of the total loss across the country. Andhra Pradesh, on the other hand, saw the highest number of houses destroyed (85,806).

January 2024 was significant in terms of climate change. It was the ninth driest January and recorded the fourth highest minimum temperature since 1901.

In the first three months of the year, the average maximum, the average minimum and the mean temperatures dropped in the northwestern region and soared in the southern peninsular region when measured against the 1981-2010 average. The southern peninsula experienced warmer-than-usual winter temperatures whereas the northern region witnessed cold waves on all days of January.

India saw its first heatwave day in March 2024 itself and experienced a total of 77 heatwave days in the first nine months, which claimed 210 lives. April and May bore the brunt of 25 heatwave days each.

Heavy rains, floods and landslides claimed 1,910 lives across 167 days during January-September 2024.  Lightnings and storms, experienced on 191 days, also resulted in the deaths of 1,021 people. The monsoon months were dominated by these disasters.

As many as 27 states and union territories saw a rise in extreme weather events in 2024 as compared to 2023. Karnataka, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh each added 40 or more disaster-ridden days compared to the previous year.

Warm nights, where the maximum temperature crosses 40°C and the minimum temperature is 4.5°C to 6.4°C above normal, affected 17 states and UTs between March and June 2024, according to newly-released IMD data. Severe warm nights where the minimum temperature is more than 6.4°C above normal, are also increasing and pose additional discomfort and health risks.

The number of lives lost to extreme weather event rose by 18 per cent in just two years – from 2,755 in 2022 to 3,238 in 2024. The report observes that weather events that used to occur once in a century are now wreaking devastation every five years or less owing to climate change, overwhelming vulnerable populations.

The report emphasises that several data gaps exist and there are discrepancies between reports prepared by the state disaster management authorities and the Centre. It also underscores the need to accurately capture data on loss and damage due to disasters.

Focus and Factoids by Yazhini Sathiamoorthy.