Guwahati: It is getting hotter every year in the country. The year 2022 was the fifth warmest year on record since nationwide records commenced in 1901, said the Indian Meteorological Department.
“The annual mean land surface air temperature averaged over India during 2022 was+0.510C above the long-term average (1981-2010 period). The year 2022 was the fifth warmest year on record since nationwide records commenced in 1901. However, this is lower than the highest warming observed over India during 2016 (anomaly of +0.710C) and higher than the previous year 2021 (anomaly of +0.440C)” the IMD said in its State of Climate report 2022.
All India mean temperatures during the winter (January to February) season was normal with an anomaly of -0.04°C while during other seasons, it was above normal ( pre-monsoon (March to May) season (anomaly of ±1.06°C), monsoon (June to September) season (anomaly of +0.36°C) and post-monsoon (October to December) season (anomaly of +0.52°C).
The five warmest years on record, in descending order were 2016 (+0.71°C), 2009(+0.55°C), 2017 (+0.541°C), 2010 (+0.539°C) and 2022 (+0.51°C). Eleven of the 15 warmest years were during the recent fifteen years (2008-2022).
During 2022, 15 cyclonic disturbances (three cyclonic storms and 12 depressions) formed over the north Indian Ocean against the normal of 11.2 based on data from 1965-2021. It included three cyclones, seven depressions formed over the Bay of Bengal and three depressions over the Arabian Sea and two land depressions. In addition to these, extreme weather events like extremely heavy rainfall, floods, landslide, lightning, thunderstorm, droughts etc were also experienced in various parts of the country.
The past decade (2012-2021/ 2013-2022) was also the warmest decade on record with the decadal averaged annual mean temperature anomaly (Actual-LPA) of 0.37°C /0.41°C. The country averaged annual mean temperature during 1901-2022 showed a significant increasing trend of 0.64°C /100 years while a significant increasing trend was observed in maximum temperature (1.0°C /100 years) and a relatively lower increasing trend (0.28°C /100 years) in minimum temperature.
The pre-monsoon period was exceptionally hot in 2022. The country averaged seasonal mean temperature was normal during the winter season (January- February, with an anomaly of -0.04°C) while the pre-monsoon season (March-May, with an anomaly of +1.06°C), monsoon season (June- September, with an anomaly of +0.36°C) and post-monsoon season (October- December, with anomaly +0.52°C) were above normal.
The country averaged 2022 monthly mean temperatures for the country during 2022 were above normal for the ten months of the year except for January and February (anomaly 0.09°C, -0.16°C respectively) where it was normal. The All India mean temperature during March with an anomaly of +1.61°C and April with an anomaly of +1.36°Cwere second highest since 1901and December with an anomaly of +1.00°C was the highest since 1901. The maximum temperature was the highest and the minimum temperature was the third highest for March since 1901. The maximum temperature was the third highest and the minimum temperature was the second highest for April since 1901. Both the maximum temperature and minimum temperature were the second highest for December since 1901.
The temperatures were consistently 3°C-8°C above normal for more than 6 days during March and April 2022 breaking many decadal and some records in several parts of the country, including the western Himalayas, the plains of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The states of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Jharkhand also experienced heatwaves, in some areas severe, with temperatures ranging from 40°C–44°C towards the end of March.
The heatwave conditions continued into April, reaching their preliminary peak towards the end of the month. Heatwaves also increase the risk of forest fires. By April 29, almost 70 per cent of India was affected by the heatwave. Towards the end of April and in May, the heatwave extended into the coastal areas and eastern parts of India.
The Indian Monsoon onset was earlier than normal and the withdrawal was later than normal this year. The majority of the Indian Subcontinent received high precipitation totals. The annual rainfall averaged over the country was 108% of its long-period average (LPA) based on data from 1971-2020.
During this monsoon season, among the four broad geographical regions of the country, South Peninsular India received seasonal rainfall which is 122% of its LPA( Long period average; Central India and Northwest India received seasonal rainfall which is 119% and 101% of its LPA respectively while East & Northeast India received seasonal rainfall which is 82% of its LPA.
The flood associated with heavy rainfall affected many parts of the country. Especially, the state of Assam faced severe floods and landslides since April 6, 2022, due to pre-monsoon showers followed by southwest monsoon 2022.
Bihar, Assam & Uttar Pradesh were the worst affected states in 2022, which reportedly claimed more than 400, 250 and 200 deaths respectively mainly due to thunderstorms, lightning, extremely heavy rainfall, floods and landslide events.
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Heavy rainfall, floods and Landslide incidents claimed over 830 lives from different parts of the country. Of these, 198 lives were lost from Assam, 116 from Maharashtra, 98 from Uttar Pradesh, 75 from Himachal Pradesh, 56 from Manipur (due to a Massive Landslide in Noney district on 30th June), 48 from Rajasthan and 43 from Jammu & Kashmir and remaining from other states. 58 from Assam died due to lightning and thunderstorm.
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