India is experiencing an intense increase in extreme weather phenomena wherein cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and droughts are becoming increasingly frequent, intense, and erratic. This increase is not just a climatic aberration but a human and economic crisis playing out in the country. The effects cascade through agriculture, urban infrastructure, water supplies, and tens of millions of livelihoods, opening up vulnerabilities that destabilise food security, health, and economic prosperity. It is to grasp the interconnected factors of climate change, ecological degradation, and regional climatic changes that one understands why these occurrences are gathering intensity in India.
Climate Change: The underlying cause of this new trend is the overall trend of climate change. With the growth of India's economy and population, emissions have increased. As a result, atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases have significantly increased. This influences local temperatures and precipitation patterns, triggering disturbances to India's vast array of climate zones. Research indicates that more than 85% of Indian districts are now at risk of catastrophic climate events such as cyclones, floods, droughts, and heatwaves. The occurrence of these events has quadrupled in frequency during the recent decades, with an even sharper increase in the last decade. Higher global temperatures amplify the hydrological cycle, resulting in additional moisture in the atmosphere that, in turn, energises more intense rains and stronger cyclones. Concurrently, rising temperatures worsen droughts and heatwaves by speeding up evaporation and drying soils.
Cyclones: More Intense and DevastatingIndia's extensive coastline subjects it to tropical cyclones that form in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. Because warmer sea surface temperatures, which have risen by some 1°C over the past few decades, are fuelling cyclones, they are increasing in intensity with enhanced wind speeds and increased rainfall. Coastal states such as Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal suffer the most, encountering more frequent and intense storms that destroy infrastructure and agriculture. The storms also lead to flooding and soil erosion, which erode livelihoods.
Floods: Seasonal Water Transformed into Catastrophic DelugeMonsoon floods have always been a part of India's rhythm of the environment, but are now more unpredictable and intense. More frequent heavy rainfall events, often lasting only a few hours but with intense severity, overwhelm drainage networks and river basins. Urban cities such as Mumbai and Chennai are subjected to flash floods, whereas rural floodplains witness inundated crops and destruction of houses. Flood events impact states differently. Early monsoon rains can be advantageous to Kharif sowing in certain areas, but monsoon floods at the key crop development stages in August to October can drastically lower yields. The uncertainty of timing and place adds to the devastation.
Heatwaves and Droughts: India is warming at a rate about double the global average, and its heatwaves are increasingly frequent and severe. These prolonged heat waves are lethal, triggering health crises in urban and rural areas. Heat stress reduces crop yields by affecting flowering and grain-filling stages, notably in major staple crops like rice and wheat. Simultaneously, the frequency and longevity of drought have risen, with prolonged multi-year droughts ravaging rainfed land. Drought depletes soil water, lowers water tables, and threatens irrigation-based agriculture. This results in spectacular declines in yields, estimated by Indian government research to be as high as 47% for rainfed rice and 40% for wheat by 2080 without any adaptive measures taken. This further aggravates food insecurity and poverty, particularly for subsistence farmers.
Changing Patterns: The Unpredictability FactorOne of the most significant emerging trends is the "swap trend," where historically flood-prone areas become drought-prone and vice versa. Such spatio-temporal unpredictability results in making it difficult to prepare and plan for the disasters, and new vulnerabilities are created. The rapidity and unusually sensational nature of such extreme events catch communities and governments off guard. Consecutive extremes, like heatwaves followed by floods during monsoon in the same region, are expected to increase due to climate variability and events like the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. These sequences exert tremendous pressure on emergency services, agriculture, and water management.
Impact on Agriculture and Livelihoods
India's food security and economy are still agriculture-dependent, which engages more than half of the population. Extreme weather conditions are therefore threats to millions in the flesh. Floods flood agricultural land, wash away topsoil, and destroy infrastructure, lowering production, especially in water-sensitive crops like paddy. Heatwaves disrupt crop growth stages, leading to incomplete grain formation and yield loss. Drought lowers the availability of water, softens the quality of soil, and increases water resource conflicts. Hailstorms and cyclones physically destroy crops and post-harvest storage. Farmers suffer from these effects and lose money, leading to more food insecurity and poverty. Subsistence farmers, having fewer resources with which they can adjust, are the most adversely affected, thereby making India's food supply sensitive to shocks.
Effects on Urban Infrastructure and Public Health
Severe weather also stresses urban infrastructure. Flooding interrupts transportation, electricity, and sanitation networks. Heatwaves amplify health threats such as heatstroke and cardiovascular issues. Public health facilities deal with the double burden of environmental risks and vector-borne diseases like dengue and malaria, compounded by changing rain and temperature patterns.
Response and Adaptive Measures
The Indian government, in cognisance of the seriousness, has developed different strategies, including the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) as part of the National Action Plan on Climate Change. Efforts are being made in climate-resilient crops, improvement of irrigation efficiency, early disaster warning, and infrastructure adaptation. The scale of the challenge, however, demands even more intensified implementation and collective policymaking. The increase in India's extreme weather occurrences is a severe wake-up call to the global climate crisis aggravated by local specifics, geography, socio-economic conditions, and environmental degradation. Merging warmer oceans, altered monsoon patterns, and increasing atmospheric moisture fuel more powerful cyclones and floods. Warming temperatures fuel heatwaves and widen drought-stricken areas. The answer to this issue requires a multi-dimensional response: Strengthening climate-resilient agriculture using drought-resistant, flood-resistant crops. Investing in resilient rural and urban infrastructure capable of weathering floods and heat. Improving early warning systems and forecasting to prepare communities better. Promoting water conservation, groundwater recharging, and sustainable land management to protect resources. Equipping vulnerable communities with information and money to adapt.
Ultimately, international action to reduce warming and national targets for sustainable development must coordinate to counteract escalating threats. India's destiny rests upon growing while protecting the environment and adapting to the growing flood of extreme weather, safeguarding livelihoods against a mounting wave of extreme weather.
This article thus emphasises why extreme weather conditions in India are increasing, driven fundamentally by climate change in combination with local vulnerabilities and the intense impacts on agriculture, infrastructure, and livelihoods. The need for adaptive action at every level has never been more pressing.