For centuries, Indians have rejoiced at the arrival of the monsoon to break summer’s fever.
For centuries, Indians have rejoiced at the arrival of the monsoon to break summer’s fever. From June to September, rains water the crops, revive rivers and wells, and cool the air.
Increasingly, however, the season’s sweet relief is laced with apprehension. The torrential rains that submerged parts of India this year are the latest in a string of major floods in the past decade, some caused by record rainfall — a scenario that many worry could become the “new normal” as climate change increases the frequency of extreme weather. This year, for instance, the monsoon arrived late and on the heels of a drought. Rains sputtered through June, then came on with a fierce intensity. Since early July, spells of heavy rain have led to flooding in 11 states, taking 1,200 lives and displacing millions. Many farmers desperate for rain saw their crops washed away.
India’s summer monsoon has always been variable and has often precipitated floods, especially in the basins of the great Himalayan rivers. But experts say that a combination of global warming, unplanned urban growth, and environmental degradation is increasing flood risk in India.
New studies show that extreme precipitation events are on the rise in large parts of India, especially multi-day deluges that lead to large-scale floods. Warmer temperatures are also speeding up glacier melt in the Himalayas, which is projected to increase flow rates in the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers. As importantly, destruction of mountains and hills, as well as development on floodplains and marshes, are exacerbating risk, as was seen in last year’s historic floods in the southern state of Kerala. Those floods were caused by extreme rainfall and mismanagement of dam reservoirs, but mining and construction in the Western Ghats, a major hill range, contributed to damaging landslides. The floods in August 2018 took 483 lives, affected 5.4 million people, and temporarily shut down the state’s new airport, which was built on a floodplain.
Read more at Yale Environment 360
Photo Credit: PDPics via Pixabay
