Climatologist Krishna AchutaRao has died at the age of 62

Professor, Center for Atmospheric Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, Krishna AchutaRao.

Krishna AchutaRao, a leading voice in climate and atmospheric science and professor at the Center for Atmospheric Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, died on September 4, 2026. He was 62.

Among his key contributions was determining the extent to which observed climate change can be attributed to human activity. Over the years, his collaboration with several scientists has demonstrated detectable human influence on temperature changes in Indian subregions. This has played a key role in linking global climate science with regional risks facing India.

“Krishna was a long-time friend and colleague and we had many conversations and arguments about climate science over the years. He was also a clear and principled critic whenever the scientific sentiment was compromised, which is increasingly important in the current political climate,” Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, told The Hind newspaper, but for many it is a great loss to the climate. the loss of a warm, thoughtful friend with a wonderful sense of humor will be deeply missed.”

During two decades at IIT Delhi, he served as Head of the Center for Atmospheric Sciences and Dean (Faculty) and helped establish the Institute’s Center of Excellence for Climate Change Adaptation. He studied engineering and then worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s climate model diagnostics and intercomparison program in the US before returning to India in 2007.

“Krishna was an amazing person and recently worked on attribution of climate events like heat waves. He also used artificial intelligence tools in research on climate change and monsoons. He will be missed,” Madhavan Rajeevan, Vice-Chancellor of ATRIA University and former Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, told The Hindu.

He has also been a member of the Joint Scientific Committee of the World Climate Research Program since 2025.

“I completed my PhD under his supervision and it is extremely difficult for me to accept this loss,” said Dileepkumar R., assistant professor, Kumbalathu Sankupillai Memorial Devaswom Board College, Kerala, in an email, adding, “He was much more to me than just a Ph.D supervisor…a man of great integrity, a truly kind soul and an exceptional scientist in society.”

Published – 05 Sep 2026 18:07 IST