A rickshaw on a street after heavy rains in Allahabad. (PTI)

New Delhi, July 20: The average temperature over India has risen by 0.52 degrees Celsius over the past century, environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh told the Rajya Sabha today citing meteorological data.

In response to a question on climate change and its impact on India, Ramesh said analysis of weather data from 1901 to 2008 indicated that despite variations across regions, the mean temperature had risen by 0.52 degrees Celsius.

The temperature analysis by the India Meteorological Department has shown a trend towards increase over most parts of the country, except over parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Bihar where temperatures appear to be decreasing.

Ramesh also said the Geological Survey of India had documented that the majority of the Himalayan glaciers have been melting and receding at different rates. He said it was not possible to specify the role played by the rising temperatures on the recession of the glaciers because glacier loss is a complex event influenced by a number of factors — a rise in temperature, changes in snowfall, or less severe winters.

A senior weather scientist said the average temperature rise had not been steady from 1901, but showed a relatively sharp rise in recent decades. “The maximum rise has occurred over the last 30 or 40 years,” said Ajit Tyagi, IMD director-general.

Tyagi said there appeared to be no trends in the overall rainfall in India, although regional decreases and increases had been observed.

A report from the National Climate Centre of the IMD had shown three years ago that the rainfall in July had decreased in most parts of central and peninsular India and increased across the Northeast.

Some studies have also pointed to an increase in extreme weather events. A study by a University of Cambridge team earlier this year, for instance, has shown that Kerala is getting an increasing frequency of extreme winter and autumn rainfall events.