Temp in India increased by 0.6 degree Celsius over the last 110 years

NEW DELHI: Mean temperature in India has increased by nearly 0.6 degree Celsius over the last 110 years in line with rising temperature across the globe, said the government in Parliament while informing the Lok Sabha that the heat wave phenomena this year were "abnormally" high which had led to 2,037 deaths across the country.

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana faced the maximum casualties with both these states together recording 93% of the total deaths due to heat wave in 2015.

"All India mean temperature has risen nearly around 0.6 degree Celsius over the last 110 years in line with the rising temperature across the globe", said Union science & technology minister Harsh Vardhan while stating that the last decade 2001-2010 happened to be the warmest decade for the country as well as for the globe as compared to the previous four decades.

He, in his written reply, also referred to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report which highlights that the mean surface temperature of the globe has risen by 0.85 degree Celsius (in the post-industrialization period).

"Using daily maximum temperature data of 103 stations uniformly distributed over the country for the period 1961-2010 from Indian main land during the hot weather season (March to July), it was observed that many areas of the country (north, northwest, central and northeast Peninsula) have experienced more than eight heat wave days on an average per season", said the minister.

DEATHS DUE TO HEAT WAVE IN DIFFERENT STATES IN 2015:

Andhra Pradesh – 1369

Telangana – 541

Odisha – 67

Uttar Pradesh – 22

West Bengal – 13

Gujarat - 10

Madhya Pradesh - 10

Delhi - 5