Over 450 killed in India heatwaves in 2024, says WMO climate report

Business Standard

4 hours ago

As Asia warms nearly twice as fast as the global average, fuelling more extreme weather and wreaking a heavy toll on the region's economies, ecosystems and societies, India lost more than 450 lives due to intense heatwaves in 2024, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
India, especially northern parts, witnessed temperatures rising to nearly 50°C last summer.
The total death toll due to all other natural calamities, such as floods and lightning, last year was more than 2,000.
Asia's average temperature in 2024 was about 1.04°C above the 1991–2020 average, ranking as the warmest or second warmest year on record, with widespread and prolonged heatwaves. The warming trend between 1991 and 2024 was almost double that during the 1961–1990 period, the WMO's State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report said on Monday.
Asia, the continent with the largest land mass extending to the Arctic, is warming more than twice as fast as the global average because 'the temperature increase over land is larger than the temperature increase over the ocean,' the report said.
The entire oceanic area of Asia has experienced surface ocean warming in recent decades, with particularly rapid rates of sea-surface temperature (SST) increase observed in the northern Arabian Sea and the Pacific Ocean portion of the region. The area-averaged time series indicates average SST warming at a rate of 0.24°C per decade, nearly double the global mean rate of 0.13°C per decade. The area-averaged SST for 2024 was the highest on record (1982–2024).
Variations in SST alter the transfer of energy, momentum and gases between the ocean and the atmosphere. SSTs influence weather and climate patterns, such as extreme rainfall in Indonesia and India, the Asian summer monsoon, wildfire activity and sea-ice variability.
During 2024, four named tropical cyclones formed over the north Indian Ocean. Three out of the four cyclones—Remal, Dana and Fengal—formed over the Bay of Bengal, and one—Asna—formed over the Arabian Sea.
Severe cyclonic storm Remal made landfall near the Mongla and Khepupara coasts in Bangladesh and West Bengal, India, on May 26, 2024. In Bangladesh, the highest recorded wind speed was 111 km/h on May 27, and the storm surge, accompanied by extremely heavy rainfall, caused flooding of up to 2.5 m in the coastal districts. Cyclonic storm Asna developed in August over the Arabian Sea, a rare occurrence—it has happened only three times since 1891. The storm's impact on Oman included rough wave heights ranging from 3 to 5 m.
In 2024, the mean rainfall over most of the Asian summer monsoon region was above normal. North-east Asia and South Asia were particularly impacted by the enhanced intensity of the East Asian summer monsoon and the Indian summer monsoon, respectively.
The onset of the monsoon (June–September) in India was normal in 2024 at 108 per cent of its climatological normal for the 1971–2020 period.
Numerous extreme precipitation events also took place last year, causing landslides, including one in Wayanad, northern Kerala, that killed over 350 people.
In the case of lightning, it claimed around 1,300 lives in various parts of the country. One particularly deadly lightning event killed 72 people on July 10 in northern India, affecting Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Jharkhand.