UPSC Articles
2020 Was 8th Warmest Year Since 1901
Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Climate
In news
- A statement on Climate of India during 2020 was recently released by India Meteorological Department (IMD).
- According to it, the year 2020 was the eighth warmest since 1901 but it was substantially lower than the highest warming observed in 2016.
Key takeaways
- The past two decades – 2001-2010 and 2011-2020 – were also the warmest decades on record with anomalies of 0.23 degree Celsius and 0.34 degree Celsius respectively, indicating the overall rising temperature.
- 12 out of the 15 warmest years since 1901 were during the past 15 years itself – between 2006 and 2020.
- India’s average annual mean temperature during 1901-2020 showed an increasing trend of 0.62 degree Celsius per 100 years.
- It also showed significant increasing trend in maximum temperature (0.99 degree C/100 years) and relatively lower increasing trend (0.24 degree C/100 years) in minimum temperature.
- During 2020, annual mean land surface air temperature averaged was 0.29 degree Celsius above normal (based on the data of 1981-2010).
- The five warmest years on record in order were: 2016, 2009, 2017, 2010, and 2015.
- The 2020 Northeast monsoon season (October-December) rainfall over the country as a whole was normal (101% of LPA).
