Two reports, released on the sidelines of COP 30 at Belém, Brazil, on Wednesday and Thursday and accessed by The Plurals, have highlighted how the temperature across the country has risen in record measures during 2024. The ongoing year also recorded the highest frequency of disasters so far, with almost one catastrophe every day.
Both reports were written using official data.
Record temperature surge
“India’s annual maximum temperatures increased steadily across most states from 0.1°C to 0.5°C during the last decade, with 2024 emerging as the hottest year on record, averaging +0.65°C above the 1991-2020 baseline and surpassing the 2016 record,” reads the report, prepared by Climate Trends and Climate Compatible Futures.
The study also found that in response to the increased temperature, India’s electricity demand also rose by 9 per cent during the peak heatwave months of April-June 2024, as compared to April-June 2023, with the Indo-Gangetic region witnessing persistent temperature rise. “Summer peaks frequently exceeded 45°C and an unprecedented 52.3°C recorded in Mungeshpur (Delhi) in 2024, marking intensified and prolonged heatwaves,” reminds the report.
The analysis finds that the northern Indian states, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana, were the most affected regions, showing the sharpest increases in summer temperature surges. “Traditionally cooler regions such as Uttarakhand (11.2%) and Ladakh (9.1%) registered the highest percentage increases in annual summer temperatures, signalling expanding vulnerability in high-altitude areas,” says the study, signalling a disturbing trend.
“The findings show that India’s heatwaves and power shortages can no longer be treated as separate crises. They are converging. It is clear that the only durable way out is to urgently upgrade our grid, invest in storage and enable flexible, climate-resilient electricity systems,” observed Aarti Khosla, Director, Climate Trends, in Belém.
A recent global report has indicated that India has deteriorated significantly in taking climate action during 2024, pointing at India’s continuing dependence on coal as the main cause.
Record surge in disaster numbers
A report prepared by Delhi based environment thinktank Center for Science and Environment (CSE) has chronicled the impact of climate change drivers on the country’s disaster dynamics and has presented statistics by assessing the period from January to September 2025.
“India faced extreme weather events on 99 per cent of days in the first nine months of 2025, marked by heat and cold waves, lightning and storms, heavy rain, floods and landslides. These events claimed 4,064 lives, affected 9.47 million hectares of crops, destroyed 99,533 houses and killed approximately 58,982 animals,” reads the report.
The impact was worse in 2024, which recorded such disasters on 255 days, resulting in 3,238 deaths and losses across 3.2 million hectares.
The report further points out that January-September 2025 saw a sharp surge in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events across India compared to the same period in the past three years.
“Given the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, the country no longer needs to count just the disasters. What we need to understand is the scale — the scale of mitigation that Belém is talking about, the scale on which the whole world has to come together. But it is also about what we need to do, keeping in mind that there will be more and more such disasters,” observed CSE director general Sunita Narain.
Agriculture most impacted
“The impact on agriculture has been severe, with extreme weather affecting at least 9.47 million hectares of cropped land in 2025, a four-fold increase from the 1.84 million hectares damaged in 2022. This number likely underestimates the true damage, as data from major states such as West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh was unavailable,” said the report. The findings point at a real concern for India’s agriculture-based economy.
The figures of 2025 underline the impact. “At least 18 states and union territories recorded their highest number of extreme weather days since 2022…Himachal Pradesh experienced extreme weather on almost 80 per cent of the 273 days in the first nine months of 2025, the most in the country. However, Madhya Pradesh recorded the highest fatalities at 532, followed by Andhra Pradesh (484 deaths) and Jharkhand (478 deaths),” states the report.
“East and north east India has also faced severe disasters with Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya and West Bengal facing maximum impacts. West Bengal faced one disaster every five days,” said a researcher associated with the project.