8 Freaky Signs that Prove Climate Change is For Real in Himachal Pradesh

Check out the top dead sure signs that prove global warming is for real in Himachal Pradesh…

Himachal Pradesh has been struck by cloudbursts and floods for the second year in a row, causing huge destruction and loss of life and making this top tourism destination state one of the unsafest places to visit during monsoon.

If the monsoon fury in 2023 was unprecedented, then 2024 is also no less bad for Himachal Pradesh.

According to environmental scientists, annual monsoon disasters in Himachal Pradesh are not natural but man-made.

And most of all it’s climate change causing widespread havoc in Himachal. They seem to be right.

Here are the top 10 climate change signs that exist on the ground and may have far reaching consequences in the coming years.

1. Heat wave in Himachal

heat wave in manali — Manali in summers.

Himachal has witnessed a gradual rise in average maximum temperature by at least three to five degrees Celsius in the last two decades. We never used to have electric fans in places like Kullu, Manali, Shimla etc but they are now omnipresent in houses, shops and hotels.

A heat wave in Himachal was also unheard of, till of course the summer of 2024. The maximum temperature in not only lower districts like Hamirpur, Una and Kangra hovered above 40 degrees Celsius but even in places like Mandi and Chamba! Tourist destinations like Kasauli, Manali and Shimla recorded unprecedented higher temperatures above the 30-degree mark.

2. Random cloudbursts

A cloudburst in Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh.

Cloudbursts used to be rare in Himachal Pradesh. But now they have become random, causing huge losses every year. In 2023, 72 flash floods, triggered by cloudbursts, were reported in Himachal Pradesh and in 2024 till August at least a dozen cloudburst events have already occurred.

Maximum damage and loss of life in Himachal has been caused by cloudbursts because they are sudden and unpredictable events. The rise in the frequency of cloudbursts is but a sign of global warming.

3. Random floods

a flooded Parvati river in August 2024 — A flooded Parvati river in August, 2024.

Even mass flooding of rivers was uncommon in Himachal Pradesh. But in the last two to three decades, massive floods have frequently occurred in all the major rivers of the state — Beas, Satluj, Chenab and Ravi — sweeping away bridges, houses, hotels and stretches of highways. Environmental scientists believe this increase in the frequency and intensity of floods in Himachal is a sign of climate change.

4. Too much or no rains at all

freaky weather pattern in himachal — A village in rains in Himachal.

Himachal Pradesh has also been witnessing strange weather patterns. Either it rains too much in a single heavy spell or it doesn’t rain at all. In July of 2023, when floods had struck many parts of the state, Himachal had received 448.9 mm rains, 71% higher than the normal and highest since 1990. But next year in July, 2024, Himachal recorded a deficient rainfall of 177.9 mm, 28% less than the normal.

5. Drop in snowfall

amount of snowfall has dropped in Himahal

The snowfall amount has also decreased in all the upper reaches of the state in the last around two decades. Places like Manali and Shimla, which were known for heavy snowfall, have witnessed winters with less or no snowfall.

A number of low-lying villages in Kullu district like Raison, Katrain, Dobhi, Patlikuhl, 15 Mile, etc, which once used to receive heavy snow, are mostly snowless in winters. Similar is the condition of numerous other villages in the Parvati and Banjar valleys of Kullu district.

6. Drop in snow cover

It’s not only the valleys, where snowfall amount has dropped but the snow cover in the river basins of Himachal has also been decreasing in the last around one decade. According to a study done by Himachal’s State Centre on Climate Change, the four river basins — Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Satluj — have been witnessing a substantial drop in their snow cover.

7. Shift in snowfall pattern

Himachal has also been seeing a strange shift in the snowfall pattern. Earlier, the higher and middle hills of the state used to receive the highest amount of snowfall in November, December and January months. But March and even April have been recording higher snowfall for the past few years. In 2023, it did not snow in Manali till January 31, when the first snowfall was received in the Kullu valley. Also, unlike the past, there are more sunny days in winters now.

8. Disappearing apple belts

One other impact of global warming has been on the apple crop in Himachal Pradesh. Over the years, the apple belts in the state have shifted up around 1000 feet from 5000 feet to 6000 feet above sea level due to climate change.

The apple belts at 5000 feet or below started disappearing as classic apple varieties like Royal Delicious require 1000 to 1400 chilling hours of less than 7 degrees Celsius temperature. When the apples stopped getting the requisite chilling hours due to rising average temperatures, farmers in districts like Kullu, Mandi, Shimla, Kinnaur, Chamba etc had no other option but to plant apple orchards in fields located at higher altitudes.