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From drought to floods in a week: Has climate change hit home?

Multi-decade rain deficit and rising temperatures have changed the usual weather patterns not only in India, but across the globe. In fact, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has said 2018 has been the sixth warmest year since 1901

August 16, 2019 / 17:26 IST
Representative image

India has faced extreme weather conditions in the current year ranging from scorching heat waves in northern and central India to torrential rainfall in states along the western coast as well as the Northeast.

Besides, a couple of months ago, over 43 percent of India was reeling under severe drought with 91 major reservoirs across India left with a mere 21 percent of the total storage capacity.

Now, the devastation caused by the recent floods in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala have compelled us to turn our attention to the question – has climate change hit home?

According to a weather-tracking website El Dorado, of the 15 places that have received the maximum rainfall across the globe, eight are located in India. Two months ago, the same website had listed four places in India among the 15 hottest places on the Earth.

A report by India Today has stated that extreme weather conditions will most likely spike in the coming days. However, the effect of weather extremities will be more adverse in the years to come because of loss of natural infrastructure and increasing human settlement, Raj Bhagat Palanichamy of World Resources Institute, India told the publication.

Multi-decade rain deficit and rising temperatures have changed the usual weather patterns not only in India, but across the globe. In fact, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has said 2018 has been the sixth warmest year since 1901.

Last year, the annual mean land-surface air temperature for the country was 0.41°C above the 1981-2010 average, showing an increasing warming trend.

Image: IMD Report Image: IMD Report

Let us take the example of Chennai. The capital city of Tamil Nadu, located along the eastern coast of the country, was witnessing extreme heat conditions and facing severe drought with natural reservoirs running dry.

While the city waits for a proper monsoon, large swathes of land in neighbouring Kerala have been battered with heavy rainfall causing flash floods and even landslides in some places. According to an official statement, over 90 have lost their lives, 59 are missing, and 34 have been injured due to flood-related incidents across the state, between August 8 and August 13.

Rivers Periyar in Kerala and Kabini in Karnataka have swollen close to their danger mark. Experts, including Palanichamy, believe that floods have been caused by extreme rainfall which these places haven’t witnessed in quite some time. In fact, before the monsoon rains, the area was drought-hit, but over the last one week, dams are full to the brim in the Cauvery basin.

The landfall of Cyclone Fani, which roared through Odisha with a wind speed of 185 kmph has also been one of the most extreme natural phenomena hitting the country this year.

A recent study has also shown that Himalayan glaciers, which are the biggest source of fresh water in the country, are melting rapidly. This could lead to drought conditions in the northern states and frequent inundation of flood plains.

With scientists divided on whether these climate extremities are a result of global warming, all eyes are now on the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP.)

Also known as COP26, it is a convention where more than 30,000 representatives across the globe would meet in Glasgow, UK, at the end of 2020 to take decisions on steps to curtail carbon emission, a major catalyst to climate change.

Aakriti Handa
first published: Aug 16, 2019 05:26 pm

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