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It has been a year of unprecedented and extreme weather events in India, and across the world, highlighted by freak phenomena which experts attribute to an alarming rate of climate change. For the record, 2016 was the warmest year since climate data came to be officially compiled, claiming 547 lives in India as its southern states faced the worst drought in 40 years. The year also saw five Indian states grappling with floods, with Assam facing the worst deluge in over a decade. A year later, the situation looks worse. Nearly 40% of the districts in India face the prospect of drought, while close to 25% districts have had heavy rainfall of more than 100mm in just a matter of hours. Sudden heavy rainfall this year has brought cities like Mumbai, Chandigarh and Bengaluru to their knees and unseasonal hail has destroyed farm produce.