Spatial Patterns in the Trends in Annual and Seasonal Scale Extreme Temperatures in India

There is increasing consensus about the general warming in long term temperature at the global scale, with substantial local and regional variations. Specifically, there is high level of confidence in the warming of most of the land areas. One of the manifestations of the warming is in the form of extreme temperatures, which can have significantly higher impacts at the local scale.

In the present study station level temperature data from 1980 to 2010 across India have been analyzed. The long term trends for eleven extreme temperature indices were calculated. The results of the analysis revealed significant spatial variations in the trends of extreme temperatures both at the annual and seasonal scale. In general there was a north-south reversal in the trends.