COP28: Due to substantial crop failures, the drought increased the reliance of households on India's PDS for access to staple food grains
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) released a report at the UN climate conference on Tuesday, stating that worsening climate change has made the 2011–2020 decade warmer and wetter for India. The report, providing a long-term perspective, highlighted sustained trends, eliminating variations attributed to phenomena like El Niño or La Niña.
The provisional annual report for 2023, released during COP28, indicated that 2023 is projected to be the warmest year on record. The decade was characterised as a "wet decade" over northwest India, Pakistan, China, and the southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Extremely warm days during this period were twice the 1961–1990 average in certain regions.
India experienced notable climate-related events during the decade, including the devastating floods in Uttarakhand in June 2013, where heavy rains, snowmelt, and glacial lake outbursts led to severe flooding and landslides, resulting in over 5,800 casualties. Kerala was also significantly affected by floods in 2018. The report highlighted the socio-economic and humanitarian impacts of droughts in India, leading to severe food and water insecurity.
Globally, glaciers thinned by about 1 metre per year, impacting water supplies for millions. The Antarctic continental ice sheet lost nearly 75 percent more ice between 2011 and 2020 compared to 2001 and 2010, raising concerns about sea-level rise.
WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas emphasised that each decade since the 1990s has been warmer than the previous one, with no immediate sign of this trend reversing. He highlighted the warming oceans and the doubled rate of sea-level rise. Weather and climate-related events were responsible for nearly 94 percent of all disaster displacement over the last decade, impacting global efforts to address hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition.
The report underscored the significant impact of climate change on extreme events, with an increase in the likelihood of heatwaves. Heatwaves led to the highest number of casualties, while tropical cyclones caused the most economic damage. Although improvements in early warning systems have reduced casualties, economic losses have increased.
While public and private climate finance nearly doubled between 2011 and 2020, the report emphasised the need for a sevenfold increase by the end of this decade to achieve climate objectives. With global carbon dioxide emissions reaching 36.8 billion metric tonnes in 2023, WMO's deputy secretary-general, Elena Manaenkova, stressed the urgency of addressing climate change, stating, "Let's finally get serious."