Yes, It Is Hotter In India Today Than 30 Years ago, Says Report

Annual mean, minimum and maximum temperatures in India have shown a "significant" increasing trend since 1981, a report by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) said.

Earth Sciences Minister Harsh Vardhan released the report titled 'Climate Change over India' yesterday.

According to warming trends, temperatures have risen by 0.16, 0.17 and 0.14 degrees Celsius in the last three decades, it said.

"Over the last 30 years, there has been consistent warming over the Indian landmass," said the report, part of which was prepared by Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) Secretary M Rajeevan and his predecessor Shailesh Nayak.

The IITM is an autonomous institute under the MoES.

The annual average temperature increased by 0.6 degree Celsius between 1901 and 2010. The number of warm days and warm nights have also increased significantly, it said.

The annual as well as seasonal monsoon rainfall over India showed a significant decreasing trend over the core monsoon zone -- the north-eastern region and southern parts of the western coast, according to the report.

However, the overall monsoon does not show any remarkable change mainly because a decreasing trend in moderate rain events has been compensated by an increasing trend in heavy rain events.

"The total number of consecutive dry days with a spell length of more than five days has increased significantly, while the number of consecutive wet days have shown a significant decrease," the report said.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had earlier declared 2016 as the hottest year recorded so far.