As per a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), India will experience increasing heatwaves and droughts, rainfall events and a likelihood of more cyclonic activity.
The report, ‘Climate Change 2021: the Physical Science Basis’, is the first part of IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). It’s the latest evaluation of the state of Earth’s climate and the impact on the planet and life forms.
The IPCC report raises a crucial red flag of rising global temperatures. Earth temperature has already risen by about 1.1 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial times and warns that the 1.5-degree-Celsius threshold was likely to be breached before 2040.
As per the scientists, a temperature rise beyond 2 degrees Celsius would result in catastrophic and irreversible changes. These could make it difficult for human beings and other species to survive.
The report says on India heat waves and humid heat stress will be more intense and frequent in the 21st century.
Extreme weather events: IPCC
Changes in monsoon precipitation are also expected. While there will be both annual and summer monsoon precipitation which is projected to increase.
“Heat extremes have increased while cold extremes have decreased, and these trends will continue over the coming decades, for the Indian subcontinent.”
According to the IPCC report, the presence of aerosols and particulate matter due to human activity have influenced rainfall events in the Indian subcontinent.
In fact, aerosols and particulate matter remain a dominant cause of the observed decrease of South and Southeast Asian monsoon precipitation.
“The main finding of the report is that climate change is a fact, warming is a fact and that the warming has taken place because of human influence is now well established… There is no going back from some of these changes. Even if we limit temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels, we will continue to see extreme weather events,” said Dr Friederike Otto, one of the authors of the report.
The global mean sea level in the Indian Ocean is rising at 3.7 mm annually. Coastal areas will see continued sea-level rise throughout the 21st century. There will be more frequent and severe flooding in low-lying areas.
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