Highlights
- In the first nine months of 2020, India recorded at least one extreme weather event in 241 days, a new report has said.
- These disasters claimed 2,775 lives, affected 1.8 million hectares (ha) of crop area, destroyed over 4,16,667 houses and killed close to 70,000 livestock
- The central region reported the highest number of days with extreme weather events at 198, followed by the northwest at 195.
India has been witnessing an alarming increase in the number of extreme weather events in the country in recent years.
In the first nine months of 2020, India recorded at least one extreme weather event in 241 days, a new report has said.
Extreme weather events in 90% of days in 2022
According to the ‘Extreme Weather Report 2022’, released by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), 90 percent of the days between January 1 to September 30 recorded extreme weather events in India.
“India recorded extreme weather events on 241 of the 273 days from January 1 to September 30 this year. This means that close to 90 percent of the first nine months of this year, India had an extreme weather event breaking in one or more parts of the country,” the report said.
2,775 lives lost to extreme weather events in 2022
These disasters claimed 2,775 lives, affected 1.8 million hectares (ha) of crop area, destroyed over 4,16,667 houses and killed close to 70,000 livestock, it said.
At 140, Madhya Pradesh saw the highest number of days with extreme weather events, and Himachal Pradesh logged the highest number of human deaths at 359. Madhya Pradesh and Assam saw 301 human deaths each.
Delhi reported four days of extreme weather events with lightning, storms and three human deaths due to them. The national capital also logged two days with heavy rain, 28 heatwave days and seven coldwave days.
Assam reported the highest number of damaged houses and animal deaths.
The report said that Karnataka, which experienced extreme weather events on 82 days during the first nine months, accounted for more than 50 percent of the crop area affected in the country.
Central India had most days with extreme weather events
The central region reported the highest number of days with extreme weather events at 198, followed by the northwest at 195.
In terms of human lives lost, the central region saw the highest number of deaths at 887, followed by the east and northeast region (783 deaths).
In 2022, India recorded its seventh wettest January since 1901. This March was the warmest ever and the third driest in 121 years. It was also the country’s third-warmest April, eleventh-warmest August and eighth-warmest September since 1901.
Eastern and northeastern India saw their warmest and driest July in 121 years. The region also recorded its second-warmest August and fourth-warmest September in 2022.
1,750 deaths in 2021 due to extreme weather events
In 2021, India saw around 1,750 deaths due to extreme weather events, with Maharashtra being the worst-affected state, where 350 lives were lost, followed by Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.
According to the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) ‘Climate of India during 2021’, thunderstorms and lightning claimed more than 780 lives in India, while 759 people died in heavy rainfall and flood-related incidents.
Cyclonic storms claimed 172 lives, and 32 others died due to other extreme weather events.
Heavy rainfall and flood related-incidents claimed 215 lives in Maharashtra, 143 in Uttarakhand, 55 in Himachal Pradesh, 53 in Kerala and 46 in Andhra Pradesh.
Thunderstorms and lightning claimed 213 lives in Odisha, 156 in Madhya Pradesh, 89 in Bihar, 76 in Maharashtra, 58 in West Bengal, 54 in Jharkhand, 49 in Uttar Pradesh and 48 in Rajasthan.
