An IMD study assessing 70 years of climate data says northwest India has become hotter and drier, while parts of south India have grown wetter. The research links the shift to changes in temperature and rainfall patterns across different climate zones.
According to the study, the hot semi-arid zone in northwest India expands over time, growing from roughly a quarter of the region’s area in 1951–1980 to about a third in 1991–2020. Over the same period, the temperate zone contracts from around a quarter to less than a fifth, implying that an area equivalent to about 7% of the region shifts into the drier zone as conditions warm and rainfall declines.
Both outlets describe the same core findings, though one provides additional detail on the temperate-to-drier shift and the magnitude of area change, while the other focuses more narrowly on the hotspot expansion.
