India warming: Surface air temperature up by 0.7°C, says Jitendra Singh

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The surface air temperature of India rose 0.7 degree Celsius during 1901–2018 and the sea surface temperatures in the tropical Indian Ocean went up by 1°C between 1951 and 2015, minister for earth sciences Jitendra Singh has told Parliament, sharing the changes being brought by a warming planet.

The minister also told Parliament on March 19 that global warming has led to increased monsoon variability and extreme climatic conditions.

Surface air temperature refers to the temperature of the air near the earth's surface, typically measured at a height of 2 meters above the ground and is the temperature reported in daily weather reports.

Sea surface temperature refers to the temperature of the uppermost layer of the ocean, typically measured in the top few millimeters (mm) to meters, and is a crucial indicator of ocean health and climate change.

Concerns are mounting as for the first time, 2024 breached the 1.5 degree Celsius global warming threshold across the world.

The minister said global warming has led to increased monsoon variability and extreme climatic conditions. Central and northern India and the western Himalayas have experienced a rise in extreme precipitation events. Northwest and central India have experienced moderate droughts and expansion in semiarid regions, the minister said.

Coastal regions are at an increased risk of cyclone related disasters, Singh said. The Himalayan region has shown elevation-dependent warming, changes in western disturbances, snowfall patterns, retreating glaciers, and a rise in short-lived precipitation extremes, etc.

“Based on published scientific studies, the sea level in the Indian Ocean was observed to be rising at a rate of about 1.7 mm per year during the last century (1900–2000) and even more rapidly in the north Indian Ocean at the rate of about 3.3 mm per year since 1993-2015,” the minister said.

He was responding to a question by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sambit Patra on the changes in the weather cycle due to climate change and the adverse effects of global warming on India.

Responding to a similar question by BJP MP Parshottam Khodabhai Rupala, the minister said the Indian Ocean has been warming rapidly over the past few decades. He added that the decaying phase of El Niño is the most influential mode contributing to more than 70–80 percent of observed heatwave days in the Indian Ocean basin.

The earth sciences ministry, citing National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) add, said 730 people died due to heatwaves in 2022, while the deaths in 2021 and 2020 were 374 and 530, respectively.

India recorded the earliest heatwaves and warm nights this year, according to the Centre for Science and Environment.

On February 25, Goa and Maharashtra recorded India’s first heatwave of the year, a first time for winter season (January–February). February 2025 was the hottest February in 125 years by the India Meteorological Department.