INDIA 2022: AN ASSESSMENT OF EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS

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Context: India recorded extreme weather events on 242 of the 273 days from January 1 through September 30, 2022, according to a new report. These include heatwaves, coldwaves, cyclones, lightning, heavy rainfall, floods and landslides.

Details:

• Madhya Pradesh was the worst-hit, with one event every second day.
• The number of deaths due to these events was the highest in Himachal Pradesh (359), while Madhya Pradesh and Assam witnessed 301 human deaths each, .
• Assam reported the highest number of damaged houses and animal deaths, according to the analysis. Karnataka, which experienced an extreme weather event on 82 days, accounted for more than 50 per cent of the crop area affected in the country.
• Lightning and storms were spread over 30 states and claimed 773 lives. Heat waves claimed 45 lives.
• This is the watermark of climate change. It is not about a single event but about the increased frequency of the events — that what we saw as the one in 100 years extreme event has now been compressed to become one in five years or even less.
• Region-wise, central and north-western India reported the highest number of days (198 and 195 respectively) with extreme weather events. In terms of human lives lost, central India topped the list with 887 deaths, followed by the East and North East India (783 deaths). 
• The nine months studied also recorded several days of extreme weather conditions: 

• Seventh wettest January since 1901
• Warmest and third-driest March in 121 year 
• Third-warmest April
• 11th-warmest August 
• 8th-warmest September since 1901 

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/climate-change/india-saw-natural-disasters-almost-every-day-in-first-9-months-of-2022-cse-report-85719