According to the India Meteorological Department, India experienced its warmest year on record in 2024. The average minimum temperature for the year was 0.90 degrees Celsius above the long-term average.
The year 2024 was by far the warmest year on record in the country since 1901. It is also noted that the last three months of the year (Oct-Dec) together were the warmest on record whereas Oct 2024, individually, was the warmest month in 123 years. The annual mean temperature stood at 25.75 degrees Celsius, 0.65 degrees above the long-term average.
The average maximum temperature reached 31.25 degrees Celsius, 0.20 degrees above normal, while the average minimum temperature was recorded at 20.24 degrees Celsius, the highest deviation from normal in over a century, IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra stated.
2024 outstripped 2016, which had recorded a mean surface air temperature 0.54 degrees Celsius above normal, making it the warmest year since records began. A yearly analysis by World Weather Attribution and Climate Central revealed that 2024 experienced 41 additional days of dangerous heat worldwide.
Mohapatra expressed concern over the “quite high” rise in India’s minimum temperatures, particularly during post-monsoon and winter seasons. “Long-term data indicates most regions in the country are witnessing a consistent rise in minimum temperatures,” he said.
Globally, the European climate agency Copernicus corroborated that 2024 likely concluded as the warmest year ever, with global temperatures averaging 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Experts warned that the world is now entering a phase where temperatures will consistently exceed the Paris Agreement’s 1.5-degree Celsius threshold, driven by surging greenhouse gas emissions.
