‘Extreme climatic events alarming, result of global warming’

‘Extreme climatic events alarming, result of global warming’

PUNE: India is witnessing extreme weather patterns in many parts. For example, this monsoon, many parts of the country were flooded due to excess rainfall in a short time. Weather experts said the number of extreme weather events in the country such as rising temperature and heavy rainfall witnessed this year, are a result of climate change. The same phenomenon was seen in Europe with frequent heatwaves and record high temperatures.

Speaking about the extreme events in the country, Makarand Kulkarni, Chief Product Planning and Quality at Skymet, a private weather forecaster, said there have been record-breaking extremes across the country.

“One of the major reasons for this is the climate change due to global warming. It is evident that we are witnessing extreme temperatures as well as rainfall across the country. The frequency and intensity of these events has increased,” said Kulkarni.

Last year, the Kerala floods were an example of intense rainfall in the region, which led to destruction of property and life. This year as well, there were over 100 deaths in the areas and thousands were displaced due to very heavy rainfall. Similar is the case of increasing heat in the country, he said.

“Heatwave intensity as well as temperature is increasing at an alarming rate. Even this year, Vidarbha region has reported extreme temperatures touching 45 degrees Celsius,” said Kulkarni.

He said this year, though there was hardly any rain in June, many parts of Maharashtra reported extremely heavy rainfall later in the monsoon season. There were floods in Kolhapur, Sangli in Maharashtra. 

Also, parts of Bihar, Assam and West Bengal witnessed flooding this monsoon.

Speaking to Sakal Times, Mahesh Pahalwat, Vice President, Meteorology and Climate Change, Skymet Weather, said there is an increase of extreme weather patterns across the country.

“We have witnessed many extreme weather events throughout the year in many parts of the country. One of the reasons is climate change and the other is the positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD),” he said. The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) is defined as an irregular oscillation of sea-surface temperatures in the western Indian Ocean. It becomes alternately warmer and colder than the eastern part of the ocean. Positive IOD leads to more rain during monsoon. India Meteorological Department officials shared similar views stating that many research supports the fact that as a result of changing climate there has been an increase in extreme events across India as well.

EXTREME EVENTS
- This year from January 20 onwards, avalanche alert was issued for Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand
- As per Earth Observatory, NASA, in early June 2019, an intense heatwave scorched northern India. Some regions experienced temperatures as high as 45 degrees Celsius for almost three weeks.  On June 10, Delhi reached its hottest day on record for the month and reported 48 degrees Celsius/
- During summer this year, many cities from Rajasthan and Maharashtra were reported to be the hottest cities across the globe.
- During monsoon, Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bihar, Assam and West Bengal witnessed flooding due to extremely heavy rainfall in short duration
- Cyclones along the west coast and east coast have significantly increased this year.

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