Weather

Extreme weather in 2024 led to biggest displacement of people since 2008

Tropical cyclones were responsible for many of the most severe events, such as Super Typhoon Yagi in September, said the World Meteorological Organization

Avalanche alert issued for high altitude areas in four Himachal districts

The Met office here has issued an avalanche alert for some high altitude areas in Himachal Pradesh for the next 24 hours. It has also predicted a wet spell in the state till Thursday, barring Tuesday. The Defence Geoinformatics Research Establishment, Chandigarh, issued an orange alert on Saturday, with the possibility of avalanches in high altitude areas of Chamba, Kullu, Kinnaur, and Lahaul and Spiti districts in the next 24 hours. Parts of the state witnessed light snow since Friday evening. Gondla received 8 cm of snow, Kukumseri 4.2 cm and Kalpa 2 cm. Snowfall since February 26 has made life tough for tribals of the Pangi valley in Chamba district. With the closure of roads, the villagers have been forced to carry the sick to hospital on palanquins. It was reported that on Friday, Sham Singh, a patient from Punto village, was taken to Civil Hospital in Killar on a palanquin. Earlier, villagers from Hudan panchayat had carried two patients, Sher Singh and Hira Lal, to the hospit

Sour season: Climate change is shrinking Delhi's strawberry harvest

Farms in Palla village are known for producing multiple varieties of strawberries, including Winter Down, Camarosa, Chandler, and Sweet Session

Western disturbance brings rain, thunderstorm across Delhi, North India

A new western disturbance is expected to further impact Northwest India from March 2 onwards

Day temperatures rise 3-6 degree above normal in North, Central India

IMD noted that above-normal temperatures in Northwest and Central India could also affect vegetable crops like onions, garlic, and tomatoes during bulb formation and flowering

Extreme weather events claim 80K lives, cause $180 bn loss in India

Over the long term, the ranking shows that extreme weather events particularly affect Global South countries

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Earth sets another heat record in January, expectations of cooler 2025

The world warmed to yet another monthly heat record in January, despite an abnormally chilly United States, a cooling La Nina and predictions of a slightly less hot 2025, according to the European climate service Copernicus. The surprising January heat record coincides with a new study by a climate science heavyweight, former top NASA scientist James Hansen, and others arguing that global warming is accelerating. It's a claim that's dividing the research community. January 2025 globally was 0.09 degrees Celsius (0.16 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than January 2024, the previous hottest January, and was 1.75 degrees Celsius (3.15 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than it was before industrial times, Copernicus calculated. It was the 18th month of the last 19 that the world hit or passed the internationally agreed upon warming limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times. Scientists won't regard the limit as breached unless and until global temperatures stay

Year begins with warmest January despite shift towards cooling La Nina

January extended a run of extraordinary heat, in which 18 of the last 19 months saw an average global temperature of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius

Delhi weather update: IMD predicts heavy rain in Delhi NCR in early Feb

IMD weather: The temperature in Delhi NCR is likely to sink as the weather department predicts heavy rains in the coming few days

Nearly 250 mn children missed school in 2024 due to extreme weather: Unicef

At least 242 million children in 85 countries had their schooling interrupted last year because of heatwaves, cyclones, flooding and other extreme weather, the United Nations Children's Fund said in a new report Friday. UNICEF said it amounted to one in seven school-going children across the world being kept out of class at some point in 2024 because of climate hazards. The report also outlined how some countries saw hundreds of their schools destroyed by weather, with low-income nations in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa hit especially hard. But other regions weren't spared the extreme weather, as torrential rains and floods in Italy near the end of the year disrupted school for more than 900,000 children. Thousands had their classes halted after catastrophic flooding in Spain. While southern Europe dealt with deadly floods and Asia and Africa had flooding and cyclones, heatwaves were the predominant climate hazard shuttering schools last year, UNICEF said, as the earth recorded its .

Improving capabilities: IMD must remain at the forefront of innovation

As India's weather-tracking department recently turned 150, its importance cannot be overstated. Weather forecasting plays a crucial role in daily operations across various sectors

PM Modi to launch Mission Mausam on Jan 14 to make India more weather-ready

Climate-smart India: Mission Mausam has been designed to ensure better preparedness for future climatic challenges with a budget of Rs 2,000 crore over two years

Govt plans framework for weather advisory units for farmers shut last year

The government wants to establish a solid framework to continue the work of district agrometeorological units (DAMUs) which until now had been operating in an ad-hoc manner, Ministry of Earth Sciences secretary M Ravichandran has said. PTI reported in August last year that the government plans to revive the network of DAMUs, which provided detailed block-level weather-related information to lakhs of farmers in the country until the India Meteorological Department (IMD) directed their closure earlier this month following instructions from Niti Aayog. "As part of the pilot project, the Earth Sciences Ministry and the Agriculture Ministry provided weather information to farmers. Agricultural meteorologists in DAMUs analyze how weather conditions will affect crops. Their primary role is to offer advice to farmers. The system functioned well, but it should not remain ad-hoc; it needs to be made permanent," Ravichandran told PTI. He said the government wants to establish a solid framework

Delhi's air quality worsens, AQI remains in 'poor' category for 3rd day

Earlier in the week, on Monday, the capital saw a temporary improvement in air quality, with levels shifting to the "moderate" category after heavy rainfall over the weekend

IMD says 2024 warmest year in India since 1901; China also heating up

The annual mean temperature in 2024 was 25.75 degrees Celsius, 0.65 degrees above the long-period average, making it the highest recorded since 1901

Climate change led to 41 additional days of extreme heat in 2024: Report

The world experienced an average of 41 more days of extreme heat in 2024 due to climate change, a new report said on Friday. According to the European climate agency Copernicus, 2024 is set to end as the warmest year on record and the first year with a global average temperature 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. A yearly review report by two groups of climate scientists -- World Weather Attribution (WWA) and Climate Central -- said the world saw an average of 41 more days of dangerous heat in 2024. Small island developing states were hit the hardest, with their people experiencing over 130 additional hot days. The scientists identified 219 extreme weather events in 2024 and studied 29 of them. They found that climate change contributed to at least 3,700 deaths and displaced millions in 26 extreme weather events. "It is likely the total number of people killed in extreme weather events intensified by climate change this year is in the tens or hundreds of thousands,"

Severe cold wave hits India: North freezes, Delhi chokes on 'severe' AQI

India shivers under a cold wave as freezing temperatures grip the north, while Delhi's air quality worsens to 'severe', prompting Grap Stage IV restrictions

Warmer than normal winters likely, Nov 2024 among warmest since 1901: IMD

"In the core cold there is lower to higher probability of both higher maximum and minimum temperatures in the next three months," IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said

Renewables expansion threatened by poor weather data: Industry leaders

As it strives to reduce the carbon intensity of its economy, India will need to increase the share of renewables in its coal-heavy energy basket, but it is already facing constraints