On January 1, 2025, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) announced that it had recorded the hottest year in India’s history. In fact, it breaks all previous records, including the infamously hot 2016 record, which was the hottest year in the nation to date. The fact that 2024’s annual mean temperature of 25.75°C had already surpassed the long-term average of 0.65°C is a clear sign of the worsening climate crisis that India has been dealing with.
Extreme weather was a defining feature of 2024, particularly in July, August, September, and October, when average minimum temperatures were the highest since records began. Additionally, February saw the second-highest recorded minimum temperature. The 0.65°C anomaly over the average temperature of the year is significant, with the previous record set in 2016 at 0.54°C above normal.
2024: Warmest year ever-recorded
That 2024 breaks all previous records for India is not alone; there is a worldwide pattern. The Copernicus climate change service has predicted that 2024 will be the warmest year ever recorded, with global temperatures surpassing the critical 1.5°C threshold above preindustrial levels. This milestone has far-reaching implications for the future of the planet because it marks the first sustained breach of the 1.5°C limit set by the Paris Agreement.
The most alarming trend shown by the IMD data is an increase in the minimum temperatures in India. IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra says much of the country is witnessing a general increase in minimum temperatures, mainly during the post-monsoon and winter seasons. The warming up of nights or minimum temperatures can be very disruptive to ecosystems, agriculture, and public health.
Cold spells, especially during winter, are mostly linked to low temperatures. But with this trend of warming up, India faces longer durations of unseasonable heat with growing health concerns over heatwaves, water scarcity, and agricultural productivity.
‘Decade of deadly Heat’
Extreme temperatures in 2024 are a part of an even bigger phenomenon that has engulfed the globe. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has confirmed that the last decade has been the hottest on record, with 2024 adding to this trend. WMO Secretary-General António Guterres stated that the world has just faced “a decade of deadly heat,” underlining the urgency for action. Global warming mainly surges due to increased concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide and methane, which increase the level of heat and damage or disrupt climate systems.
The WMO also indicates that this pattern of heat is resulting in more frequent extreme weather events like floods, droughts, and heatwaves with catastrophic impacts on human life, ecosystems, and economies. Climate change has already been linked directly to 41 additional days of dangerously high temperatures worldwide in 2024 alone.
India’s record-breaking heat is consistent with the broader global warming trend. India’s rising temperatures are already having an effect on a number of other industries, particularly agriculture. Farming is made even more difficult by high temperatures, little rainfall, and unpredictable weather patterns. The majority of crops, such as rice, pulses, and wheat, cannot tolerate high temperatures, which puts the nation’s food security at a crucial juncture.
The water problems were also made worse by the heat. Reduced water bodies and increased evaporation rates lead to water scarcity in many areas, worsening the socioeconomic and social circumstances of millions of people.
These stressors necessitate early adaptation to these changes through the adoption of water conservation initiatives, creative agricultural techniques, and the promotion of sustainability-related behaviors.
Despite some fluctuations in regional weather patterns, such as the expected La Niña conditions in January 2025, which may bring slightly cooler temperatures to some parts of northern India, the broader trend is one of continued warming. It predicts that in January 2025 most parts of India will witness above normal minimum temperatures except a few places, especially parts of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat, where minimum temperatures may be near normal or low close to normal.
Precipitation forecasts indicate that January is going to be relatively wetter than normal for the majority of India. This will be beneficial to India’s rabi crops if rainfall is uniformly spread. However, with the upward trends of warming, climate resilience in agriculture, water management, and urban infrastructure is emphasized.
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