PANAJI: The fast smelting of the North Pole nearly 9,000 km is likely to cause extreme rainfall witnessed in the Indian sub-continent over the past few decades, say scientists at the National Center based in Goa for polar and sea research (NCPOR)).
A recent study by researchers from India and Norway found that the period of increasing extreme rainfall events in India during June to September to coincide with summer sea ice which declined rapidly in the Arctic.
Based on the analysis of climate data over the past 100 years, scientists have established relations between decreased Arctic sea ice and the Summer Monsoon India (ISM), which usually takes place from June-September.
They have found that changes in the upper atmospheric circulation associated with the smelter of fast sea ice in the Arctic Ocean can achieve further to the tropics and influence the events of extreme rainfall in India.
The findings of the study showed that changes in the upper atmospheric circulation because the loss of Arctic sea ice facilitated an increase in supply of moisture and convection on Indian mainland and caused an increase in extreme rainfall events.
This study has been published in the famous NPJ climate and the atmospheric science journal.
Led by Sourav Chatterjee and written together by M Ravichandran, Nuncio Murukesh, Roshin P Raj and Ola M Johannessen, this study further emphasizes that detailed numerical modeling studies into the observed link will help reduce the factors that contribute to extreme weather events in India.
“The research findings indicate the fact that the variability of extreme events during the ISM can be at least some of the results of changes in the upper atmospheric circulation due to remote sea ice changes in changes in the Arctic and Local Sea surface in the Arab Sea,” Chatterjee said.
Scientists have observed the increasing frequency of extreme rainfall events of mainland India during the ISM in the past few decades.
Climate researchers have noticed more “extreme rainfall periods” in 2019 and 2020 compared to 2018, but most India has also witnessed conditions such as drought due to uneven distribution of rainfall.
The Indian Meteorology Department (IMD), in Indian climate statement during the 2020 ‘, shows that high intensity rainfall events have increased, which causes flooding in Kerala, North Karnataka, Maharashtra (including Mumbai), Assam, Bihar, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat South and even Punjab.
Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean declined rapidly, potentially influencing global climate and weather patterns, said Director of NCPOR, M Ravichandran.
“A large number of heat released during the extreme rainfall in northwestern India is known to travel to the Arctic and reduce sea ice.
But in this study, the research team focused on the possibility of other reverse relationships to see whether the change in the Arctic atmospheric condition because the loss of sea ice has the potential to influence Extreme rainfall during ISM, “said Ravichandran.
Scientists based in Goa found extreme rainfall links to Arctic Melting
