Vehicles ply on a heavily waterlogged road amid rains, in Chennai.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: Despite excess monsoon rains, rise in global warming has led to a consistent rise in minimum temperatures, says Climate Trends as southwest monsoon draws to a close in 2024.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Southwest Monsoon 2024 concluded with above- normal rainfall, reaching 108 per cent of the long term average. Between June 1 to September 30, India recorded 934.8 mm of rain, surpassing the seasonal norm of 868.6 mm..
Climate Trends, which is a research-based consulting and capacity building initiative that aims to bring greater focus on issues of environment, climate change and sustainable development, said out of 729 districts, 340 districts recorded normal rainfall, 158 districts experienced excess rainfall, and 48 districts saw large excess rainfall. 167 districts faced a rainfall deficit while 11 districts saw large deficit rainfall.
The 2024 monsoon recorded the highest number of heavy rainfall events in the last five years.
June recorded the second-highest very heavy rainfall events in the last five years, while July also reported the second-highest number of extremely heavy rainfall events.
In August, 753 stations recorded very heavy rainfall, the highest since 2020, while September marked a new record, with 525 stations recording very heavy rainfall.
“The number of stations to record very heavy rainfall for the month of June was the second-highest in the last five years. July also reported the second-highest number of extremely heavy rainfall events. In August, 753 stations recorded very heavy rainfall, the highest since 2020, while September marked a new record, with 525 stations recording very heavy rainfall,” the Climate Trends report said.
Aarti Khosla, Founder & Director, Climate Trends said: “Apart from Monsoon performance, we need to track the spatial distribution of the rainfall in the country. The majority of the contribution has come in the form of extreme weather events. Whether it was 2023 which was a drought year or 2024 which has recorded above normal rains, the rise in extreme weather events has been a constant due to persistent rise in the average temperatures.”