Bengaluru: Flood and extreme heat events will dramatically increase in India due to climate change, according to an academic report released at the Commonwealth Science Conference.
Experts from different institutes talked at length about extreme weather events that will affect the world till 2090 based on climate modelling studies. The report, ‘The Resilience to Extreme Weather’ was released by the Royal Society and scientists Dr Bhaskar Vira from University of Cambridge as well as Professor Paul Bates from University of Bristol.
Vira said, “South Asia will be significantly affected because of its large population. Floods and extreme heat events will increase. The number of people above the age of 65 is increasing. The frequency of floods will increase twice as much due to climate change.”
Bates said to Express, “By the end of the century, (2090) the combination of climate change and population change could lead to more than ten times the number of annual heat wave events.”The report focuses on floods, droughts and heat waves, which are some of the most frequent and damaging events that currently occur and those that will be affected as the climate will continue to change. The maps in the report show that India in particular will be increasingly affected by these extremes.
In 1999, almost 9,000 people were killed in a cyclone across 14 of Odisha’s 30 districts by the supercyclone. Cyclone Phailin in October 2013 took away twenty-one lives. The difference in the number of lives lost demonstrates the effectiveness of building resilience through preparedness, early warnings, political commitment and technology. The repost says, a portfolio of defensive options to address a range of hazards, involving physical and social techniques will be most effective. As Vira says, “For example, planting trees to slow down water run off, or using marshes or mangroves to buffer coastal defences, If we don’t act now, we risk further loss of life, property and possessions.”
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