Rainfall is probably the most common natural weather event on this planet. But it is not that common when it comes to the ice sheets of Greenland, where temperatures seldom cross the freezing point. But on August 14, 2021, something unprecedented happened. The Summit of Greenland, which is the highest point of its ice sheets, received rain for the first time in recorded history.

1,697 people killed in India after being struck by lightning between March 2020 and April 2021. Lightning strikes kill more people than cyclones, earthquakes and floods every year. As the Earth heats up, the number of extreme weather events like heat waves and thunderstorms are also increasing. Warming adds to moisture levels in the atmosphere not just in coastal areas but also the Arctic and Antarctic regions.

China’s central Henan province witnesses its heaviest rainfall in 1,000 years. At least 25 people, including 12 subway passengers, have been killed in the rainstorm so far.

After days of heavy rainfall in northern and eastern states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, rivers have risen above the danger mark affecting more than 50,000 people.

Climate change has made the Indian Ocean more unpredictable than ever. On one hand, there are more cyclones emerging out of this ocean, and on the other hand, they are intensifying very rapidly, gaining more power in a very short time. This is called rapid intensification.

Hailstorms are common in India during the pre-monsoon season but a rise in their frequency is worrisome.

West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh were among the six states that received rainfall exceeding their long-term averages between March 1 and March 12, 2020.

Holi, famously known as the festival of colours, is celebrated in the month of March every year. Typically the day involves playing with dry and wet colours to mark the beginning of the spring season. In 2020, however, things were different. Instead of a bright, sunny day that we are used to during Holi, we woke up to a morning that was cold and breezy. In some parts of the country, there was even fog! Winter had not ended.

Earth’s climate worsened in the last year, said the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

WMO’s Statement on the State of the Global Climate (2019) revealed 2019 was the second-hottest year on record. The mercury was 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels in 2019. 2016 remains the hottest year recorded but the rise in temperature then was due to El-Nino 2010-2019 was the hottest decade on record. Since 1980 each decade has been hotter than the previous.

As per the World Bank, changes in average temperature and precipitation would impact 600 million lives in India.

There is scientific evidence that global warming is leading to more moisture loading in the atmosphere, which, in turn, is causing more extreme precipitation events. Raghu Murtugudde, a professor at Maryland University, US, recently said that there is a clear link between extreme rainfall events and global warming. 

Researchers say that global warming is a cause of frequent and high-intensity thunderstorms

The season of festivals is here. But something feels different. My mother tells me that about 25 years ago, the winters would make a precise entry on Dussehra, which usually falls between September and October. A week before Dussehra, we would take the warm clothes out of an old trunk. "Now, it is late November when the weather becomes cold. Only a few days in December are cold enough to wear warm clothes," says my mother.

We read in books that India has six distinct seasons—Grishma seasons (summer), Varsha (monsoon), Sharata (autumn), Hemanta (pre-winter), Shishira (winter) and Basanta (spring)...

The sun's heat is the most important factor in the weather patterns around the globe. Warmer ocean temperatures due to human-made activities give storms a bigger battery which not only increases the intensity but also the frequency of hurricanes and cyclones.

Given the hurricane of catastrophic climate events that took place around the world, August and September should be renamed as tropical cyclone months. For the first time in seven years, the Atlantic Basin faced more than three hurricanes consecutively in the year 2017...