Weather Watch - 2025

In 2023, countries used weasel wording to "contribute" to "transitioning away from fossil fuels" at the COP28 climate change summit in Dubai, a statement that sounded like a goal but acted like a mirage in a desert of inaction.

Carbon emission increased between COP28 and COP29! 

2024 became the first calendar year to pass the 1.5C threshold, as well as being the world's hottest year on record.

The 1.5C threshold refers to the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This target was established in the Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change that was signed by 196 countries at COP 21 in 2015. 

To understand Climate Change better I tracked major Weather events that made headlines in 2024. I'll keep updating this page as such events unfold this year.

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November

* Three-fourths of India’s districts are vulnerable to extreme climate events such as floods, cyclones, or droughts. More than 80 per cent of the country’s population lives in these districts.

CEEW’s heat-risk index, based on four decades of data, across 734 districts, and 35+ indicators, shows that 57 per cent of the country’s districts—home to ~1.1 billion people—face high to very high heat risk.

The International Labour Organization estimates that by 2030, India could lose the equivalent of 35 million full-time jobs to heat stress.

Source: CEEW.in 

October

* Baobab trees can store water in those wide trunks for later use during dry spells. Upwards of 32,000 gallons can be held in a large baobab tree's 'reservoir.' One of the longest-lived of all vascular plants, baobabs can reach thousands of years old, with estimates ranging from 2,000 to 5,000 years. Despite their water storage capacity and natural longevity, baobab trees are experiencing a die-off in southern Africa. Many experts believe that this is due to climate change causing drier conditions that are challenging even for the water-saving baobab to overcome.

* Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica as one of the strongest Category 5 storms on record, at one point packing winds of almost 298 kilometers per hour (185 m.p.h.). Jamaica, the Bahamas, Barbados, and Antigua and Barbuda, all recently hit by major hurricanes, have debts that are nearly equal to their entire economies. The International Monetary Fund has said the region needs to invest about $100 billion in this kind of climate resilience. The world’s poorest countries are suffering the most from climate change, despite being least responsible for the greenhouse gas emissions that cause it. - NYT

September

* West and Central African countries—which produce over 70% of the world’s cocoa—are already being significantly affected by climate change. Multiple scientific studies and reports from 2024–2025 show that, due to rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns, by 2050 up to 50% of currently suitable cocoa-growing areas in West and Central Africa may become unsuitable for cocoa production if no major adaptation or intervention occurs. Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon (the region’s cocoa powerhouses) are at the center of this risk. 

* North India logged its wettest monsoon in the region in 37 years. Uncharacteristically for north India, it rained without a major break through the season. It’s for the first time since 1978 that all four monsoon months — June to Sept — saw surplus rainfall in the region. 

* Severe heat this summer killed three times as many people in European cities as would have died had humans not warmed the planet by burning fossil fuels. The researchers looked at 854 European cities and towns, where they estimated that a total of 24,400 people died as a result of this summer’s heat. In 2022, during what was at that point the continent’s hottest summer on record, more than 61,000 people died from the heat, scientists have estimated. - NYT

* Climate change may affect dietary habits and nutritional health. Rising temperatures increase added sugar intake disproportionately in disadvantaged groups in the USA. Climate affects food consumption and nutrition through multiple pathways. - Nature

August

* "The snowline in the higher altitudes has shifted upwards. Areas that used to receive regular snowfall are now experiencing heavy rainfall. There are many research papers which indicate that the Himalayan region is warming up at a faster rate than the plains. The increase in temperature has led to more instances of localised, high-intensity rainfall or 'cloudbursts'. What's happening now is that due to orographic rainfall, very small and localised areas are experiencing intense downpours. - Professor Sarfaraz Asgher, head of the Geography department, Jammu University

* Jammu and Kashmir has set new rainfall records with Udhampur receiving an unprecedented 629.4 mm and Jammu 296 mm of rain in 24 hours since 26th August, 8:30 am. Jammu is in the foothills. The drains, temporary streams, nalas were overflowing which has resulted in heavy losses. Jammu also saw unprecedented rainfall in 2014. The Tawi river was over the danger mark and Jammu City was flooded. 

* At 21% above normal, north India has so far recorded its wettest monsoon since 2013, the year of the cataclysmic Kedarnath flash flood.

* Prime Minister François Bayrou of France described the nearly 40,000 acre fire, which has killed one person, as a “catastrophe on an unprecedented scale.” The latest fires in France have been driven and made worse by climate change and drought. The fire has become the country’s biggest since 1949.

* Heat waves in Europe saw tourist sites like the Acropolis in Athens and the Eiffel Tower in Paris shut this summer, and the region is tipped to see a widening tourism divide due to climate change –– northern coastal regions are likely to see a 5% increase in demand while parts of its south will lose almost 10% of summer tourists, according to an EU study. Dangerously high temperatures have driven down visitor numbers at Tokyo Disney Resort. US theme park operator Six Flag Entertainment said severe weather drove a nearly $100 million loss in the second quarter. Meanwhile, places like Antarctica, Norway and Iceland have seen their popularity boom. - Bloomberg

July

* Colossal bursts of rain like the ones that caused the deadly flooding in Texas are becoming more frequent and intense around the globe as the burning of fossil fuels heats the planet, scientists say. The Texas flood has become one of the deadliest floods in the US in the past 100 years.

* Temperature fluctuations in orchards are affecting flowering of mango trees and impacting yields, says M. Sankaran, principal scientist and head of the fruit crops division at Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru. In addition, the flowering period is shifting by 30-45 days, leading to the harvest season coinciding with monsoon rains, a nightmare for farmers and traders. - Mint

* Authorities in Greece imposed mandatory work breaks Monday in parts of the country where temperatures are expected to exceed 40 degrees Celsius. The labour ministry ordered the work stoppage, in effect from midday to 5pm for outdoor manual labour and food delivery services, primarily in central Greece and on several islands. 

* Climate change is turning some of the continent’s most desired getaways into places to get away from. It is remaking Europe’s summers. - NYT

June

* Spain and Portugal reported record temperatures as Italy and France braced for several more days of a punishing heatwave that has gripped southern Europe and Britain, sparking health and wildfire warnings. Temperatures in southern Spain soared to 46°Celsius on Saturday, a new record for June.

* With forecasts from the meteorological department predicting harsher summers and the Centre issuing with alarming regularity urgent instructions to states and UTs to protect workers from soaring temperatures, administrations have for a while now been scrambling to put in place plans to thwart heat-triggered illnesses and deaths. In Odisha, where close to 150 deaths were recorded in summer 2024, a sterner response has unfolded. Airconditioned rooms are now mandatory in state-run hospitals, and ambulances have been retrofitted with cooling equipment to treat victims. Urban form and land use play a crucial role in heat exposure, with poorly planned or unregulated neighbourhoods facing far greater risk. Studies in Mumbai and Bengaluru found that slum settlements and industrial zones often register temperatures up to 6°C higher than greener, better-planned areas.  - ToI

* Alphonso, the king of mangoes, isn't quite enjoying a royal run anymore. Yields have been crashing consistently from heatwave induced acidic reactions, in not just the prized Alphonso but many other popular varieties. - The Hindu 

* The year 2024 was the hottest in India since nationwide records began in 1901. Even globally, 2024 was the warmest year in the 175-year observational record.

* Andhra Pradesh has not experienced a single cold wave day in the past four years, marking, a first in the last 15 years, according to EnviStats India 2025, released by the Union govt. According to experts, the decreasing trend in the frequency of cold waves could be attributed to an increase in minimum temperatures, fuelled by climate change. This trend (of rising warmer days and decreasing cold wave days) can be understood from the fact that the average national annual minimum temperature, for the first time, crossed the 20 degrees Celsius mark, reaching 20.24 degrees Celsius in 2024, compared to the previous range of 19.3–19.8 degrees Celsius over the past 25 years.

* Tomato prices nearly doubled across the city and other parts of Andhra Pradesh in just one week. The sudden spike—from ₹27 per kg on June 6 to ₹48 on June 10—is being blamed on a drop in supply from tomato growing regions like Madanapalle due to intense heat.

May

* UAE hits record May temperature of 51.6°C. The previous record was 50.2°Celsius, recorded in May 2009. UAE lies in one of the planet’s hottest regions and one which is particularly vulnerable to climate change.

* Normally southwest monsoon sets in over Kerala on June 1 and it advances over most part of northeast India by June 5. The southwest (summer) monsoon hit Kerala eight days ahead of its normal onset date of June 1, marking the beginning of the four-month long rainy season in India. This is the earliest monsoon in Kerala in 16 years. 

Source - The Times of India

* Soaring temperatures have led to an exponential rise in cases of kidney stones in Hyderabad with some hospitals in the city recording an over 60% jump in their count of patients. As people sweat more in summers and do not hydrate as much as they should, it creates a suitable environment for these stones to develop. Hence it is essential to consume 2.5 to 3 litres of water daily. - ToI

* The metaphor of the “boiling frog” is sometimes used to describe how people fail to react to gradual changes in the climate. Previous research has found that as the climate warms, people adjust their sense of what seems normal based on weather from the past two to eight years, a phenomenon known as “shifting baselines.” Last year, weather-related disasters caused more than $180 billion in damages in the United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, a Gallup poll found that climate change ranked near the bottom of the list of 22 issues, well below the economy, terrorism, or health care. - Grist.org 

April

* With mercury hovering above 44°C, villagers of the "saline belt" in Akola district of Maharashtra are battling a severe drinking-water shortage, with all taps here running dry. Instead of locking their home when venturing out, villagers are securing their water barrels kept outside with locks. The water crisis has even affected marriages. Villagers say young men are struggling to find brides, as families refuse alliances from this area citing the severe water scarcity. 

* As climate change makes intense weather events more common, there’s a growing demand for conservators who can save art from water and smoke damage. - NYT

March

* Cementing disaster  - A difference of 13°C in temperature within a 7km radius sounds hard-to-believe. It is the new normal, as witnessed in average temperature difference in March between Mumbai suburbs Ghatkopar (33°C) and Powai (20°C). Urban Heat islands (UHI) like Ghatkopar are complex urban phenomena – microclimate zones within cities – that urban planners are well aware of. Yet, planners, builders or regulators, let alone city govts, barely see the rash of over-construction in Ghatkopar or any similar cityspace as a crisis. 

An analysis of 14 cities in 13 countries long established that heat-retaining infra, such as concrete buildings and roads, poor vegetation, and localised pollution drive the difference in temperatures – about 12°C between an urban sprawl and a rural area. 

UHI’s linked with shrinking green cover, impermeable surfaces – cement & asphalt roads, parking lots – and buildings that slow winds and trap heat.

* The Telangana Socio-Economic Outlook (SCO) 2025 report highlights an increasing trend of heat stress in the core city of Hyderabad during nighttime, particularly from March to August, compared to daytime temperatures. This rise is attributed to the urban heat island (UHI) effect, which causes the urban centre to be 1.9°C warmer at night than the surrounding peri-urban and outer city regions. This situation raises concerns not only for climate conditions but also for public health, as hot nights hinder recovery from daytime heat, leading to extended physical stress. Doctors suggest that the UHI can lead to multiple health-related issues such as rampant heat exhaustion and strokes, cardiovascular stress, skin issues, and other ailments. Prolonged heat exposure increases pro-inflammatory cytokines leading to immune dysfunction and chronic fatigue. Not just the physical stress UHI can also take a toll on mental health, according to doctors. - ToI

* The population of butterflies — the beautiful insects that play a vital role in pollination and the health of ecosystems — has fallen in the United States by more than a fifth this century. Scientists attributed the decrease to factors including habitat loss, pesticide use and climate change.

* Heat waves hit Alphonso mango farmers in Konkan - Winter is an important season for the physiology of the mango plant. It is during the winter months that the plants start flowering, followed by fruit formation within 60 days. With rising temperatures driving away the winter and multiple heat waves since the start of the year, mango farmers in the Konkan region of Maharashtra — home to the Alphonso variety — are a worried lot. The current harvest season will be over by early April, but his trees may not bear fruit. 

February

* Asia is currently warming nearly twice as fast as the global average with the 1991–2024 trend almost double of that of 1961–1990, fuelling more extreme weather and wreaking a heavy toll on the region’s economies and ecosystems according to World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

* February was India’s warmest in 125 years of record-keeping - ToI

* IMD’s Santacruz observatory on 23rd Feb recorded a maximum temperature above 37°C, exceeding Feb’s average of 31.3°C. Experts said while dry heat typically sets in after mid-Feb, it usually lasts for shorter intervals rather than the prolonged heat observed in recent years. The heat itself isn’t unusual, but its frequency has increased.  - ToI

* Climate Change to Wipe Away $1.5 Trillion in U.S. Home Values - WSJ

* 2025 began with the warmest January on record. The global average temperature in Jan was 1.75°C higher than pre-industrial times.

January 

* Hyderabad is likely to experience an unusual weather pattern, with summer-like heat, winter chill, and unseasonal rainfall occurring in quick succession over the next week. Weather experts say this phenomenon, which has not been observed in the past five years, indicates significant changes in local climate patterns. Fluctuating weather is causing a surge in cases of flu, fever, allergies, and infections in the city, according to doctors. While such ailments were once prevalent during the monsoon, doctors note that constant temperature changes have made them common year-round.  - ToI

* "The only conclusion you can come to if you look at Los Angeles carefully is that there shouldn’t be a city there. It is built in a desert and all its water is piped in from as far away as the Colorado river, which is now dwindling. There were massive fires in this area in the 1990s. Mike Davis writes about it in a book called ‘Ecology of Fear’. After those fires, hundreds of thousands of people moved out. And I think you’re going to see that again because people are not going to be able to insure their houses anymore. And while the actual fires are not necessarily linked to climate change, the background noise is all linked to climate change. A couple of years ago there was massive rain in this area in California. Everyone said, oh great. And I thought to myself, no, it’s not great because you’re going to get an upsurge of vegetation. And that’s what happened. Then this huge drought started, the vegetation dried, providing fuel for the fire.

The real background of the problem is what I call ‘terraforming’ in my book, and capitalism is an integral part of this. The real estate industry has been running wild over there for years, building stuff in places where there shouldn’t be any kind of habitation. One of the most disturbing things that I’ve read is that in Altadena, just above Pasadena, real estate firms are going to survivors with offers to buy land. They’ll get it at fire sale prices and create more developments in exactly those areas....

Climate denialism comes from people who believe that someone else will bear the burden." - Amitav Ghosh

* IMD’s Annual Climate Summary-2024 shows that extreme weather events caused over 3,200 deaths in India in 2024. Lightning and thunderstorms claimed most lives (1,374) followed by floods and heavy rains (1,287). The country experienced above normal temperatures in all four seasons last year. Many Met stations set new records since 1901 in terms of both temperature and rainfall.

* New data from US govt’s Climate Prediction Center shows 2024 had the highest recorded ‘extreme’ rainfall events although the year’s overall rainfall was 27th lowest in the past 46 years.