Annual average temperature in Delhi on upward trend in past 4 decades
Over the past four decades, the period when much of the warming has been felt across the world, Delhi has also seen an increasing trend in both annual average maximum and minimum temperatures, data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) shows.
3 min read
The lowest annual average maximum temperature in Delhi from 1980 to 2022 was recorded in 1997 – 29.66 degrees Celsius. From 1980 to 2022, the same was recorded in 1987 – 32.73 degrees Celsius. With global warming and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) referring to the past eight years as the warmest on record, what have the annual average temperatures looked like in Delhi?
Over the past four decades, the period when much of the warming has been felt across the world, Delhi has also seen an increasing trend in both annual average maximum and minimum temperatures, data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) shows. Data on average annual maximum temperatures from 1980 to 2022 at Safdarjung weather observatory, which is the city’s base weather station, shows a rising trend that is statistically ‘significant’. An analysis by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies shows much of the warming in the world has occurred since 1975. For Delhi, the average annual maximum temperatures show rising trends from around then, preceded by decreasing trends in the decades before that, from around 1940 to 1980.
Temperatures globally have risen sharply since the 1970s suggesting the influence of an increase in greenhouse gases, said M Rajeevan, the former secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, who took a look at the data for Delhi. “From mid-1970s, temperatures have increased mainly because of industrialisation after the Second World War. Maximum temperature shows faster warming trends than minimum. The minimum temperature is controlled by what is happening at night – greenhouse gas emissions can control night temperatures. Day-time temperatures are controlled by greenhouse gas emissions as well as solar radiation and changes in these can affect maximum temperatures,” he said.
O P Sreejith, scientist, Climate Research and Services, IMD-Pune, said, “Increasing maximum temperatures are mainly associated with global warming. There are year-to-year variations as well.”
The lowest annual average maximum temperature in Delhi from 1980 to 2022 was recorded in 1997 – 29.66 degrees Celsius. From 1980 to 2022, the same was recorded in 1987 – 32.73 degrees Celsius. Kuldeep Srivastava, who heads the IMD’s Regional Weather Forecasting Centre, pointed out that data from 1980 to 2022 shows a significant rise in average annual maximum temperatures, while the minimum temperatures do not indicate as high a rise. He explained, “With an increase in temperature, the moisture holding capacity of the air also increases, meaning there can be an increase in humidity, and consequently, discomfort levels.”
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