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Harsh climate claims over 2,000 lives in India in 2024: WMO climate report
Extreme natural events in 2024 claimed the lives of over 2,000 people in India, including over 450 from intense heat wave last summer, according to World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
Temperatures shot up to nearly 50°C the previous summer, especially in northern India.
The onset of monsoon (June-September) in India was normal in 2024 at 108 per cent of its climatological normal for the 1971–2020 period. However, heavy rainfall in Kerala's Wayanad caused landslides, killing over 350 people. Around 1,300 lost their lives due to lightning in various parts of the country, the WMO's State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report said on Monday.
In the case of lightning, it claimed around 1,300 lives in various parts of the country. This includes the deaths of 72 people on July 10 due to bad weather conditions, coupled with lightning, in various parts of the country, including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Jharkhand.
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 heat wave. The warming trend between 1991–2024 was almost double compared to the 1961–1990 period, the report stated.
Asia is the continent with the largest land mass extending to the Arctic and 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 experienced surface ocean warming over recent decades, with particularly rapid rates of sea-surface temperature (SST) increase observed in the northern Arabian Sea and Pacific Ocean portion of the region. The area-averaged time series indicates average SST warming at a rate of 0.24 °C per decade, which is 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 patterns in Indonesia and India, the Asian summer monsoon, wildfire activity and sea-ice variability.
During 2024, four tropical cyclones formed over the north Indian Ocean. Three of them formed over the Bay of Bengal (Remal, Dana, Fengal), and one over the Arabian Sea (Asna).
Severe cyclonic storm Remal made a landfall near the Mongla and Khepupara coasts in Bangladesh and West Bengal 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, which is a rare occurrence – it has only happened three times since 1891. The storm's impact on Oman included rough wave heights ranging from 3 to 5 metres, it said.
In 2024, the mean rainfall over most of the Asian summer monsoon region was above normal. Northeast Asia and South Asia were particularly impacted by the enhanced intensity of the East Asian summer monsoon and Indian summer monsoon, respectively.
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