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 +0.290 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 (+0.710 degrees Celsius).
The monsoon and post-monsoon seasons with mean temperature anomalies (Actual temperature-Normal temperature) of +0.430 degrees Celsius and +0.530 degrees Celsius respectively mainly contributed to this warming. "Mean temperature during the winter was also above normal with anomaly of +0.140 degrees Celsius. However, during the pre-monsoon season temperature was below normal (-0.030 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 (+0.710 degrees Celsius), 2009 (+0.550 degrees Celsius), 2017 (+0.5410 degrees Celsius), 2010 (+0.5390 degrees Celsius), and 2015 (+0.420 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 0.230degrees Celsius/0.340 degrees Celsius," the Ministry informed.
The country averaged annual mean temperature during 1901-2020 showed an increasing trend of 0.620 degrees Celsius/100 years with a significant increasing trend in maximum temperature (0.990 degrees Celsius/100 years) and relatively lower increasing trend (0.240 degrees Celsius/100 years) in minimum temperature.
The mean temperatures exceeded the normal during September (by 0.720degrees Celsius, warmest since 1901), August (by 0.580 degrees Celsius, second warmest), October (by 0.940degrees Celsius, third warmest), July (by 0.560 degrees Celsius, fifth warmest), and December (by 0.390 degrees Celsius, seventh warmest).
( With inputs from ANI )
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