India ranked fifth in the top 10 countries in Asia with the highest average temperature anomalies, with Maharashtra and Mizoram being the worst hit according to new analysis by Climate Central – a non-advocacy, non-profit science and news organisation.

Indonesia was the worst hit in Asia.

From December 2024 to February 2025, over 358 million people across 12 states in India experienced daily average temperatures that were strongly influenced by climate change for at least one-third of the season (that is, 30 or more days).

More than 150 million people in Maharashtra and Mizoram experienced average temperatures that were 1.6°C above their 1991-2020 normals, the highest across India.

These two states are followed by Chhattisgarh. Manipur, Goa, Sikkim, Nagaland, Odisha, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Increase in temperatures have ranged from 1.1°C to 1.6°C. Ladakh saw the lowest temperature anomaly at 0.1°C followed by Rajasthan, Punjab and Delhi. This anomaly is calculated by taking into account a 30 year per capita average temperature.

Kerala experienced the most number of risky heat days – eight caused by climate change and this was followed by Goa where five days were thus influenced.

In Maharashtra, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Aurangabad, Nashik, Kalyan, Nagpur and Thane were the worst hit. Shimla and Raipur also fall in the list of top 10 Indian cities with the highest temperature anomalies.

The world over there is an increasing frequency and severity of heat events leading to dangerous heat exposure, and this will only worsen if the burning of fossil fuels continues, the report cautions.

At least one in five people globally felt a strong climate change influence every day from December 2024 to February 2025. Nearly 394 million people were exposed to 30 or more days of risky heat added by climate change, 74 per cent of whom live in Africa.

Risky heat days are defined as days with temperatures hotter than 90 per cent of local temperatures recorded from 1991 to 2020.

Of the 220 countries analysed in the report, in half the nations the average person experienced temperatures strongly influenced by climate change for at least a month. In 287 cities worldwide (of the 940 analysed), residents felt the influence of climate change on temperatures for 30 days or more.