Climate atlas of India: district-level analysis of historical and projected climate change scenarios

The increase in extreme events and their impact on natural and artificial ecosystems and lives and livelihoods are conspicuous. Formulation of climate policies and planning and implementation of programmes and projects for adaptation require climate information at various spatial scales. To cater to this need and to build awareness, the study conducted historical climate analysis and future climate projections at a district level for the 28 states of India.The timescale for the analysis is the near or short-term period of the 2030s (2021–2050), and it has been compared with the climate of the near past historical period (1990–2019) at a district level. Climate change projections are done for two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) or climate scenarios, namely RCP 4.5 (moderate emissions scenario) and RCP 8.5 (high emissions scenario). Historical climate data and gridded data for climate change projections are from the India Meteorological Department (IMD).