alawadi ,Rajasthan Rajasthan): there has been a significant increase in Lightning And in the year 2021, there has been a storm and they have become fatal.
Sharing details of casualties caused by extremes Season Events of 2021, Director General of India Meteorological Department (IMD), Mrityunjay Mohapatra said, out of 1,750 deaths due to various extreme weather events, lightning caused 45% of the corresponding 787 casualties, which is much higher than the casualties due to the cyclonic storm (172), which would otherwise be considered more terrifying.
The deaths due to floods, heavy rains and landslides accounted for 43% (759) of the casualties. Most of the deaths due to lightning have been reported from the eastern part of the country- Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.
Mohapatra was addressing journalists at a symposium on climate organized by the Center for Science and Environment (CSE) on Code Red: What science is telling us here on Wednesday. “Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha have been the worst-hit states in terms of casualties due to extreme weather events,” he said. Jharkhand, which has been the epicenter of thunderstorms for many years, saw all the casualties due to extreme weather events associated with lightning, while Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal had the highest number of casualties due to lightning.
CSE’s Akshit Sangmala said lightning and thunderstorm events are among the least reported category of extreme weather events. Highlighting possible reasons for the increase in extreme weather events, especially lightning and sudden rains, climate scientist Roxy Mathew Cole of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, linked it to the ocean heat wave. Cole, a pioneer in research into marine heatwaves, said that although the area is new in research, it has great potential to influence extreme weather events. “Mary heatwaves are a known phenomenon over the Bay of Bengal, but this year, the western Indian Ocean experienced a four-fold increase and two-three-fold increase in the number of oceanic heatwaves over the northern Bay of Bengal,” he said. Cole linked ocean heat waves to a sudden increase in moisture-laden warm winds, often resulting in heavy rainfall and thunder. “There is a possibility that the sea-heated winds have started thunderstorms over the Bay of Bengal and neighboring Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh,” he said.
Marine heatwaves, much of which have been recorded via satellite imagery, have indicated that mean sea surface temperatures, which are around 27–28 °C, have often touched 30–31 °C. Cole said, “A buoy stationed in the Bay of Bengal captured a high temperature of 34 °C, indicating that the oceans are acting as a heat sink of global warming and ultimately extreme weather in coastal areas and neighborhoods.” creating a situation.” The IMD also pointed out other anomalies in the weather events recorded last year. Mohapatra said that 2021 was the 5th warmest year on record since 1901. “The mean annual mean temperature has increased by 0.44 °C and we have seen that the mean temperature has increased in most parts of the country,” he said, adding that there may be discrepancies. are directly related to climate change.
Sharing details of casualties caused by extremes Season Events of 2021, Director General of India Meteorological Department (IMD), Mrityunjay Mohapatra said, out of 1,750 deaths due to various extreme weather events, lightning caused 45% of the corresponding 787 casualties, which is much higher than the casualties due to the cyclonic storm (172), which would otherwise be considered more terrifying.
The deaths due to floods, heavy rains and landslides accounted for 43% (759) of the casualties. Most of the deaths due to lightning have been reported from the eastern part of the country- Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.
Mohapatra was addressing journalists at a symposium on climate organized by the Center for Science and Environment (CSE) on Code Red: What science is telling us here on Wednesday. “Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha have been the worst-hit states in terms of casualties due to extreme weather events,” he said. Jharkhand, which has been the epicenter of thunderstorms for many years, saw all the casualties due to extreme weather events associated with lightning, while Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal had the highest number of casualties due to lightning.
CSE’s Akshit Sangmala said lightning and thunderstorm events are among the least reported category of extreme weather events. Highlighting possible reasons for the increase in extreme weather events, especially lightning and sudden rains, climate scientist Roxy Mathew Cole of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, linked it to the ocean heat wave. Cole, a pioneer in research into marine heatwaves, said that although the area is new in research, it has great potential to influence extreme weather events. “Mary heatwaves are a known phenomenon over the Bay of Bengal, but this year, the western Indian Ocean experienced a four-fold increase and two-three-fold increase in the number of oceanic heatwaves over the northern Bay of Bengal,” he said. Cole linked ocean heat waves to a sudden increase in moisture-laden warm winds, often resulting in heavy rainfall and thunder. “There is a possibility that the sea-heated winds have started thunderstorms over the Bay of Bengal and neighboring Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh,” he said.
Marine heatwaves, much of which have been recorded via satellite imagery, have indicated that mean sea surface temperatures, which are around 27–28 °C, have often touched 30–31 °C. Cole said, “A buoy stationed in the Bay of Bengal captured a high temperature of 34 °C, indicating that the oceans are acting as a heat sink of global warming and ultimately extreme weather in coastal areas and neighborhoods.” creating a situation.” The IMD also pointed out other anomalies in the weather events recorded last year. Mohapatra said that 2021 was the 5th warmest year on record since 1901. “The mean annual mean temperature has increased by 0.44 °C and we have seen that the mean temperature has increased in most parts of the country,” he said, adding that there may be discrepancies. are directly related to climate change.