NEW DELHI: Madhya Pradesh experienced extreme weather events on 176 days, the most in the country, while Kerala recorded the highest number of weather-related fatalities at 550, followed by Madhya Pradesh (353) and Assam (256) this year, as per Centre for Science and Environment’s annual ‘State of extreme weather report’ released on Friday.
The report shows that Andhra Pradesh had the most houses damaged (85,806), while Maharashtra, which saw extreme events on 142 days, accounted for over 60% of the affected crop area nation-wide, followed by Madhya Pradesh in 2024.
“This trend is no longer hypothetical – it is visible in the escalating crisis we face today. This report is not good news, but it is a necessary warning, a call to recognise nature’s backlash and the urgent action required to mitigate it. Without combating climate change at a meaningful scale, today’s challenges will only worsen tomorrow,” said Sunita Narain, director general, CSE.
Region-wise data shows that central India faced the highest frequency of extreme events with 218 days, followed closely by the northwest at 213 days. In terms of lives lost, central region had the most deaths (1,001), followed by southern Peninsula (762 deaths), east & northeast (741 deaths) and northwest (734 deaths).
CSE’s analysts, however, pointed out that the reported damage could be an underestimation due to incomplete data collection on event-specific losses, particularly to public property and crop damage.
Referring to other climate records in 2024, Centre for Science and Environment noted that Jan was India’s ninth driest since 1901 whereas the country recorded its second-highest minimum temperature in Feb in 123 years.
May, on the other hand, saw the fourth-highest mean temperature on record while July, Aug and Sept all registered their highest minimum temperatures since 1901.