New Delhi: India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday said that the year 2024 was the warmest on record in India since 1901. 

IMD said that the average minimum temperature settled 0.90 degrees Celsius above the long-period average.

“The annual mean land surface air temperature across India in 2024 was 0.65 degrees Celsius above the long-term average (1991-2020 period),” Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director general of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), said at a press briefing.

India Records Warmest Year Since 1901

The year 2024 now ranks as the warmest year on record since 1901, surpassing 2016, which had recorded a mean land surface air temperature 0.54 degrees Celsius above normal.

As per the European climate agency Copernicus, 2024 likely ended 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 and Climate Central — said that the world experienced an average of 41 more days of dangerous heat in 2024.

Temperatures Remained High Due To La Nina

Earlier, the European Climate Agency predicted that 2024 will be the warmest year on record for the earth, with the annual temperature exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

2023 was the hottest year on record so far; it was 1.48 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. 

Average sea surface temperatures (SSTs) for November 2024 were also the second-highest on record for the month, at 20.58 degrees Celsius, just 0.13 degrees Celsius below the November 2023 record.

“While the equatorial eastern and central Pacific moved towards neutral or La Nina conditions, sea surface temperatures remained unusually high across many ocean regions,” Copernicus said.

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the year 2025 is predicted to be warmer than 2024. 

What is La Nina

The weather pattern known as La Niña brings warmer-than-normal sea-surface temperatures to the southern Pacific Ocean around northern Australia, New Guinea, and the islands of Indonesia.