2017 FOURTH CONSECUTIVE HOTTEST YEAR FOR INDIA: IMD

The India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) draft climate summary says that 2017 was the fourth warmest year on trot after 2016, 2015, and 2014. The average temperature across the country last year was 0.71 degrees Celsius above the 1971-2001 average, the summary said.

The post-monsoon period from October to December in 2017 was the third warmest since 1901, said data. The IMD considers January and February as winter months because temperatures then have been historically cooler, according to DS Pai, a scientist at IMD.

In popular perception, however, winter starts from November and lasts till February.

Warming of temperatures has been a global phenomenon, with the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) on Thursday declaring 2017 as one of the three hottest years on record. “2016 still holds the global record whilst 2017 was the warmest year without an El Niño, which can boost global annual temperatures,” the world body said.

The year 2016 remains the warmest year on record (1.2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial era). Global average temperatures in 2017 and 2015 were both 1.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The two years are virtually indistinguishable because the difference is less than one hundredth of a degree, which is less than the statistical margin of error. But according to meteorologists, in absence of an El Nino, an unusual warming of Pacific Ocean surface that contributes to warmer temperatures, 2017 is the hottest year on record.

The greatest departures in temperatures in 2017 were in the January-February period. The trend is likely to continue this winter, as the IMD says the weather would be warmer than usual.

“Our analysis of 117 years of temperature data clearly indicates rapid warming of winter months. In 2017, the average temperature in winter was close to three degrees higher than the baseline of 1900-1930,” Chandra Bhushan, deputy director general of Centre for Science and Environment, said.

NEWDELHI: THE POSTMONSOON PERIOD FROM OCTOBER TO DECEMBER IN 2017 WAS THE THIRD WARMEST SINCE 1901, SHOWED DATA FROM THE DEPARTMENT