Reported deaths in India due to extreme weather events down to 1,740 in 2020

The number of reported deaths in India due to extreme weather events
such as floods, heavy rains, lightning, cold wave and thunderstorm, among
others, in 2020 fell to 1,740 from 2,503 a year ago.

India is one of the most vulnerable country for extreme weather events,
ranking 20th on Climate Risk Index (CRI). Also, the country incurs losses of
$9 billion to $10 billion annually due to these weather events.

“It is also observed that extreme events are all showing increasing trends in
recent decades in line with other parts of the globe which is mainly
attributed to climate change," said Dr. Harsh Vardhan, science and technology,
earth sciences and health and family welfare minister in a written reply in
Lok Sabha on Friday.

A case in point being climate change impacting India’s green economy, with
wind energy generation during this year’s peak season the worst ever due to
low wind speeds on account of an erratic summer monsoon. India’s wind power
generation has been down around 40% during the peak wind season that begins in
June and ends in September as reported by Mint earlier.

“As per the climate change projections made by IPCC, there is high probability
for these extreme events to increase in coming years," Harsh Vardhan said in
his written reply, according to a statement from the ministry of earth
science.

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