Team Blitz India
MUMBAI: For over 24 years now, the average annual temperature in Maharashtra has been recorded as above normal. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the average annual temperature in Maharashtra has gone up by a degree and the state is facing a serious threat of climate vulnerability.
The year 2023 was officially declared as the warmest year globally with average temperature higher than the average of the 1850-1900 pre-industrial level by 1.48 degrees celsius and 0.17 degrees celsius higher than 2016.
Going with this global trend of temperature rise, Maharashtra too, has recorded an increase in temperature since before 2000. As per IMD data, between 1875 and 1970, average temperature in Maharashtra was recorded below normal by one degree except for a few exceptions.
However, this situation began to change gradually and the number of occasions where average temperature was recorded above normal increased between 1970 and 2000. The change was significant post 2000 when average temperature in Maharashtra was observed to be constantly above normal.
Multiple reports from private and Government bodies published in the last three years have highlighted that Maharashtra is among the most vulnerable states in India with regard to climate change including extreme weather events such as heat waves, flooding, lightning, cyclones etc. The recent temperature trend has only served to reinforce the same.
