Marine heat waves are leading to a decline in phytoplankton populations, and affecting the ocean fisheries.
Maharashtra, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh suffered the most from extreme weather events last year, India Meteorological Department (IMD) chief Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said on Wednesday.
He also said that heavy rainfall and flood-related incidents last year had claimed over 750 lives across the country, with Maharashtra recording the highest number of fatalities, followed by Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.
Nearly 350 deaths took place in Maharashtra, most due to floods and heavy rains. The others were related to incidents of lightning, thunderstorms and cyclonic storms, data shared by Mohapatra at the virtual national conclave ‘Anil Agarwal Dialogue 2022’ showed.
In Odisha, which had close to 250 deaths, most were due to lightning and thunderstorms, it stated. Mohapatra also said that the largest number of districts affected from extreme weather events were in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.
The director general of meteorology was speaking on the second day of the conclave, which was organised by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and inaugurated by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, who released the ‘State of India’s Environment 2022’ report.
Speaking at a session on extreme weather events and climate change, Akshit Sangomla, a senior journalist with Down To Earth, pointed out that 2021 was a very significant year and a year of extremes.
“It was one of the seven warmest years ever recorded. India ranked third in the world in experiencing climate change disasters. And, lightning and thunderstorms accounted for the maximum number of climate-change related deaths,” he said.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sixth assessment report, the earth’s average surface temperature rise will cross 1.5 degrees Celsius in the next 20 years, and two degrees Celsius by the middle of the century, if there is no drastic reduction in green house gas (GHG) emissions.
A P Dimri, professor of environmental sciences at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, echoed the dire warnings.
“Glaciers are depleting and increasing the flow of rivers in north India. The northern sides of the country will receive more rain compared to the eastern side. Cloudburst is becoming common, and we have found that in case of a cloudburst along the foothills of the Himalayas, the precipitation goes up by 14 per cent,” he said.
Roxy Mathew Koll, climate scientist with the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune, focused on the relatively lesser known phenomenon of marine heat waves.
According to him, the Indian Ocean is the fastest warming ocean basins in the world, and this will have serious impacts on the South Asian region.
Marine heat waves are leading to a decline in phytoplankton populations, and affecting the ocean fisheries.
“About 93 per cent of the heat from global warming goes into the oceans. Warm waters are an energy source for cyclones – the frequency, intensity, rapidity and duration increases with rising temperatures.
“The Indian Ocean, our research shows, will become conducive to cyclones as warming rises. Marine heatwaves also lead to marine habitat destruction due to coral bleaching, seagrass destruction and loss of kelp forests, affecting the fisheries sector adversely,” said Mathew Koll.