Summer 2022 was 2nd-hottest since 2010; now monsoon leaving it behind
Monsoon this year has turned out to be warmer than the preceding summer, an analysis by Centre for Science and Environment has found. The Delhi-based non-profit also said summer 2022 has been the second-hottest since 2010.
Heat waves lashing India are expected to worsen with the growing climate change impact. The monsoon is hotter than summer by 0.3-0.4°C on average. Meanwhile, winter and post-monsoon seasons are warming up faster.
The extreme heat waves in north-west areas like Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Chandigarh draw maximum public attention. However, there is an urgent need to focus on the overall anomalous temperature in other regions of the country, found the analysis.
Megacities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad are much hotter than the larger region around them due to heat island effects, the report finds. Surface absorption of heat and local waste heat generated by traffic, industry and air conditioning, among other urban activities, lead to the heat island effect.
India Meteorological Department classifies Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand as the country’s north-west region.
Earlier, the summer of 2016 held the record for the hottest summer after 2010.
Policy preparedness to mitigate rising heat due to climate change is nearly absent in India, said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, CSE.
Roychowdhury said:
Without heat action plans, rising air temperature, radiating heat from land surfaces, concretisation, heat-trapping built structures, waste heat from industrial processes and air conditioners will worsen public health risks.
She added that erosion of heat-dousing forests, urban greens and water bodies is adding to the heat action, urging for time-bound mitigation.
The Urban Lab of CSE has analysed the temperature trends in India from January 2015 to May 2022.
“It is important to pay attention to the overall rising temperature and humidity trends in different regions to understand the gravity of the problem,” said Avikal Somvanshi, senior programme manager, Urban Lab, CSE.
There has been an almost 4°C rise in the average daily maximum temperature for March and April in India’s north-west, compared with the 1981-2010 baseline. This is almost twice as much as the anomaly observed at all-India levels.
The lab found the seasonal average of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad were 1-2°C higher than the all-India average due to the urban heat island phenomenon.
Roychowdhury suggests strategic interventions to reduce heat island effects in cities, along with reduction of heat load on built structures, among other measures, as the way ahead.
“At the same time, emergency measures would be needed to respond to the extreme heat conditions during the heat waves,” she said.
At an all-India level, the monsoon season (June, July, August and September) has been 0.3-0.4°C hotter than summer — what’s more, it is getting hotter with time.
The decadal average temperatures for summer are now 0.49°C hotter than the long-term normal (1951-80 baseline). This is a significant increase, but it pales in front of the increase noted among the decadal average temperatures for the other three seasons.
The post-monsoon period (October, November and December) is hotter by 0.73°C. Similarly, the winter (January and February) has been warmer by 0.68°C, and the monsoon by 0.58°C.
The normal maximum for central and southern peninsular India was much higher than north-west India.
Central India (Chhattisgarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman& Diu, Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha) was 2-7°C higher.
The southern peninsular region (Andaman & Nicobar, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Telangana) was 4-10°C higher than temperatures in north-west India.
The study also found fewer deaths due to heat waves have been reported since 2015. The southern peninsular region had reported 2,444 deaths due to excessive environmental heat since 2015, compared to 2,137 deaths in north-western areas.
However, the report also pointed out that most such deaths might have gone unreported or attributed to co-morbidities. Mostly such deaths are rural, low-income and marginalised populations.
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