Heat of the Moment

With 2025 expected to be warmest year in history, India needs an urgent cooldown strategy

- PUJA DAS

If 2024 was the warmest year in recorded history, 2025 might be worse. States like Jharkhand, Odisha, Maharashtra, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh are already recording temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius.

With heatwaves arriving earlier than expected, in late February, scientists and meteorologists warn of more frequent and severe extreme weather events in 2025. Rising sea surface temperatures could have widespread effects on urban infrastructure, real estate, pharmaceuticals, energy, and agriculture. February this year was the hottest in 125 years, despite La Niña's cooling influence.

From March to May, most of India—except for southern, extreme northern, and northeastern regions—will likely experience above-normal maximum temperatures and increased heatwave days, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Heatwaves typically occur from March to June, but can sometimes extend into July. When temperature deviations touch or exceed 4.5°C, coastal regions of India are classified as experiencing a heatwave.

Meteorologists attribute the early heatwave to an extremely dry winter season, among other factors.

"This year, the country experienced one of the driest winters in recent memory," said Mahesh Palawat, vice president, Meteorology and Climate Change, Skymet Weather, a Noida-based private weather forecasting agency. "An anticyclone over Madhya Pradesh has been pushing warm easterly winds across the West Coast, delaying sea breezes while prolonging land breezes, contributing to rising temperatures." High humidity levels near the coast, he added, have worsened discomfort.