'2020 was 8th warmest year in India since 1901'

New Delhi [India], January 6 (ANI): The year 2020 was the eighth warmest year on record since nation-wide records commenced in 1901, the Ministry of Earth Sciences said on Tuesday.

"The annual mean land surface air temperature averaged over India during 2020 was above normal. During the year, the annual mean land surface air temperature averaged over the country was +0.29 degrees Celsius above normal (based on the data of 1981-2010). The year 2020 was the eighth warmest year on record since nation-wide records commenced in 1901," the Ministry said.

However, this is substantially lower than the highest warming observed over India during 2016 (+0.71 degrees Celsius).

The monsoon and post-monsoon seasons with mean temperature anomalies (Actual temperature-Normal temperature) of +0.43 degrees Celsius and +0.53 degrees Celsius respectively mainly contributed to this warming. "Mean temperature during the winter was also above normal with anomaly of +0.14 degrees Celsius. However, during the pre-monsoon season temperature was below normal (-0.03 degrees Celsius)," it said.

The global mean surface temperature anomaly during 2020 (January to October as per the WMO state of the global climate) is +1.20 degrees Celsius.

The 2020 annual rainfall over the country as a whole was 109 per cent of its Long Period Average (LPA) based on the data of 1961-2010. 

The five warmest years on record in order were: 2016 (+0.71 degrees Celsius), 2009 (+0.55 degrees Celsius), 2017 (+0.541 degrees Celsius), 2010 (+0.539 degrees Celsius), and 2015 (+0.42 degrees Celsius). "12 out of 15 warmest years were during the recent fifteen years (2006-2020). The past decade (2001-2010/ 2011-2020) was also the warmest decade on record with anomalies of 0.23 degrees Celsius/0.34 degrees Celsius," the Ministry informed. 

The country averaged annual mean temperature during 1901-2020 showed an increasing trend of 0.62 degrees Celsius/100 years with a significant increasing trend in maximum temperature (0.99 degrees Celsius/100 years) and relatively lower increasing trend (0.24 degrees Celsius/100 years) in minimum temperature.

The mean temperatures exceeded the normal during September (by 0.72 degrees Celsius, warmest since 1901), August (by 0.58 degrees Celsius, second warmest), October (by 0.94 degrees Celsius, third warmest), July (by 0.56 degrees Celsius, fifth warmest), and December (by 0.39 degrees Celsius, seventh warmest). (ANI)