Monsoon getting hotter than summer
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI
The monsoon has usually meant respite ठंडा from the heat,
but temperatures during these months — June to September —
1 are seeing a rise, says an analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), an environment group, made public on Thursday.
2 At an all-India level, average temperatures during the season are 0.3 degrees Celsius higher than the average summer temperatures (March to May) when compared from 1951 to 1980.
In the past decade, 2012-2021,
this anomaly has risen to 0.4 degrees Celsius.
India’s average temperature
has risen 0.62 degrees Celsius from 1901 to 2020, according to India Meteorological Department records.
However, in a breakdown of this rise, the CSE analysis shows it has translated to summer temperatures rising slower than not only monsoon but even post-monsoon (October-December) and winter (January and February) temperatures.
The increase in these two seasons
are 0.79 degrees and 0.58 degrees, respectively, whereas summer temperatures has risen only 0.49 degrees.
This year, India saw record pre-monsoon temperatures
in northern and western regions, in the absence of rain.
The average daily maximum temperature for March and April
for Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand — as per IMD classification — was almost 4 degrees Celsius above normal (compared to its baseline of 1981-2010).
This is almost twice as much as the anomaly observed at an all-India level, and
it holds true for even average daily minimum, daily mean and land surface temperatures, the CSE noted. Temperatures became closer to normal during May.
Heatwave deaths
These numbers had a bearing on heatwave deaths.
From 2015 to 2020, 2,137 people had reportedly died of heat stroke in the States in northwest but the southern peninsula region had reported 2,444 deaths due to excess environmental heat, with Andhra Pradesh alone accounting for over half the reported casualties.
Delhi reported only one death for the period. Most deaths have been reported among working age men (30-60 age group).
Source the hindu
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