In a study published by The Lancet Planetary Health journal last month, researchers concluded that nearly 740,000 excess deaths in India annually could be attributed to abnormal hot and cold temperatures related to climate change. 'This year's monsoon was more erratic with the rainfall intensity increasing in short durations causing damage to property and human life,' Ravi Shankar Najundiah, director of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, told DW.Įxperts say heavy rain events have increased threefold since 1950, but total precipitation has declined and at least a billion people in the South Asian country currently face severe water scarcity for at least one month annually.Īnd heat waves have become more common and severe, with many cities reporting temperatures above 48 degrees Celsius (118.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in 2020.

This year, for instance, India has witnessed severe floods, cloudbursts and landslides in several states across the country, causing death and destruction. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Climate changes affecting India hardĬlimate change has already hit India hard, causing huge economic and social losses in recent years. 'From wildfires because of extreme heat and moisture loss to devastating floods because of extreme rain events, and tropical cyclones because of the changing temperatures between the sea and land surface, it should worry us,' Narain said. This message from the IPCC report confirms what we already know and can see in the world around us,' said Sunita Narain, an environmentalist and director of the Delhi-based Center for Science and Environment.

'The threat of climate change is real - dangers are imminent and the future is catastrophic. 'Heat extremes have increased while cold extremes have decreased, and these trends will continue over the coming decades,' the report said regarding the Indian subcontinent.Įxperts say India, and South Asia in general, is particularly vulnerable to climate change. The report, Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis, is the first part of IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) - its latest evaluation of the state of Earth's climate and the impact on the planet and various life forms. India will suffer more frequent and intense heat waves, extreme rainfall events and erratic monsoons, as well as more cyclonic activity, among other weather-related calamities, in the coming decades, a report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned on Monday.

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