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Climate change experts and activists in the country have called the passing of Krishna AchutaRao, a Professor at the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences (CAS), Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT Delhi), a ‘major loss to Indian climate science’.
AchutaRao was a ‘pillar of climate science in India’, whose contributions to attribution science and championing the rights of communities made vulnerable due to the rising threat of climate change would never be forgotten, they told Down To Earth (DTE).
AchutaRao had been suffering from health issues for a long time, his wife Mila Mitra told the Hindustan Times (HT). She, however, noted that he was still continuing to teach at the institute and that his family did not expect to lose him so suddenly.
“IIT Delhi is deeply saddened by the demise of Prof. Krishna AchutaRao, a Professor at the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences (CAS). He passed away on September 4, 2026,” the prestigious institute said in a post on its Facebook account.
The post continued: “Prof. AchutaRao served at the Institute for about two decades and held various positions of responsibility, including Dean (Faculty) and Head, CAS. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the Centre of Excellence for Climate Change Adaptation at the Institute.
“He was a well-known researcher in climate change, climate risk assessment, and adaptation to climate change. He contributed significantly to various international bodies, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the World Climate Research Program.”
“The Institute community extends its heartfelt condolences to Prof. AchutaRao’s family, friends, and students,” concluded the post.
According to HT, AchutaRao had a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in mathematics from BITS Pilani, which he earned in 1986. “He later moved to the US to pursue a PhD, where he worked for several years before returning to India. In 2007, he joined the IIT Delhi’s Centre for Atmospheric Sciences (CAS),” noted the daily.
In 2022, in the run-up to the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, AchutaRao talked about what modern attribution science can say about loss and damage as well as historical responsibility, in a discussion with the Centre for Science and Environment, a Delhi-based non-profit.
He gave an instance of the kind of experiments that can be carried out to estimate this scientifically. There is nothing new with heatwaves occurring, except that they have become more intense, frequent and last longer, AchutaRao mentioned.
Decades-long observations as well as climate models can be used to study the frequency and intensity of such events in today’s climate and what it would be in a hypothetical situation when Earth is devoid of human beings. Comparing the two emissions scenarios will tell us how climate change has contributed to the extreme weather events the world is experiencing today, he added.
Colleagues and peers from the Indian climate fraternity and civil society remembered AchutaRao as a man whose intellectual courage and integrity made him stand apart.
Roxy Mathew Koll, climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune and Lead Author of the IPCC Reports remembered the late IIT Delhi professor for his keen scientific temper and sense of humour.
“Krishna was a long-time friend and colleague, and over the years we had many conversations and arguments about climate science,” Koll told DTE.
“What brought me closer to him was his keen scientific temper, his extraordinary attention to detail, and above all, his sense of humour. He would question an argument until he was satisfied that it stood up scientifically, but our conversations would very often leave me smiling,” he added.
For Koll, AchutaRao’s intellectual courage was also something unique. “He was also a clear and principled critic whenever scientific temper was compromised, something that has become increasingly important in the present political climate. That combination of scientific rigour, intellectual courage and humour is something I will always remember about him,” said the scientist.
Anjal Prakash, public policy professor at FLAME University, Pune, and an IPCC author, called AchutaRao a ‘pillar of climate science in India’.
“Prof Krishna AchutaRao was a pillar of climate science in India and a bridge between rigorous research and public understanding,” he told DTE. “As a Lead Author for IPCC’s AR5 and AR6, he helped shape global assessments while ensuring Indian contexts—monsoons, heat extremes, and climate risk—were central.”
Prakash also pointed to AchutaRao’s mentoring of future climate scientists in the country. “I worked with him over the last eight years on IPCC report dissemination, where his clarity, patience, and commitment to capacity-building stood out; he often stayed late to mentor young scientists and journalists. His work at IIT Delhi and with WCRP advanced climate modelling and attribution science relevant to South Asia. Beyond publications, his legacy lies in the many he trained to communicate climate change with accuracy and urgency,” noted Prakash.
Not just academia, members of civil society also remembered AchutaRao’s contributions to strengthening the case for the rising threat of climate change through his work on attribution science.
“Long before adaptation gained global traction, Prof. Krishna AchutaRao recognised that for vulnerable communities, climate change is an immediate reality, not a distant threat. While international debates remained fixated on mitigation, Prof. Krishna grounded the science in real-world impacts—from deadly heatwaves to shifting monsoons,” Harjeet Singh, climate activist and founding director of the Satat Sampada Climate Foundation, told DTE.
“He demystified complex atmospheric models, translating them into actionable truths without sacrificing scientific rigour. By keeping frontline communities at the core of his work, he bridged science and policy to fundamentally reshape resilience planning. His intellectual clarity, integrity, and warmth will be deeply missed,” noted Singh.
Koll, who has made breakthrough contributions to the research, monitoring, and modeling of climate and extreme weather events over the Indo-Pacific region, termed AchutaRao’s passing as a ‘major loss to Indian climate science’.
“His contributions to climate science were immense, including his work on detection and attribution of climate change, his role as a Lead Author of the IPCC assessments, and more recently as a member of the WCRP Joint Scientific Committee. I remember sharing scientific exchanges and media conversations with him, including on the growing climate risks in the Himalayan region. His passing is a major loss to Indian climate science, but for many of us it is also the loss of a warm, thoughtful friend with a wonderful sense of humour. I will miss him deeply,” said Koll.
