Most lives lost to lightning in 2021: IMD chief
Alwar (Rajasthan): There has been a marked increase in lightning and thunderstorms in the year 2021 and they have become deadlier too. Sharing the details of casualties arising out of extreme weather events in 2021, director general of India Meteorological Department (IMD), Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, said out of 1,750 deaths occurring due to different extreme weather events, lightning accounted for 45% casualties corresponding to 787, far above than the casualties caused by cyclonic storms (172), which is otherwise considered more dreadful. Deaths due to flood, heavy rain and landslide accounted for 43% (759) casualties. Lightning events causing deaths have mostly been reported from the eastern part of the country — Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. Mohapatra was addressing journalists in a symposium organised by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on the topic Code Red on Climate: What Science Is Telling Us, here on Wednesday. “Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha have been the worst-hit states in terms of casualties due to extreme weather events,” he said. Jharkhand, which has remained a thunder hotspot for several years, had all the casualties due to extreme weather events linked to lightning while Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal had the biggest chunk of casualties linked to lightning. Akshit Sangomla of CSE said lightning and thunderstorm-related events are among the most under-reported category of extreme weather events. Throwing light on the possible reasons for increasing extreme weather events, particularly lightning and sudden rainfall, climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, Roxy Mathew Koll, linked it to marine heat wave. Koll, who has been pioneering research in marine heatwaves, said though the field in terms of research is new, it had huge potential to impact extreme weather events. “Marie heatwaves are a known phenomena of the Bay of Bengal but this year, western Indian Ocean experienced four-fold and northern Bay of Bengal two-three fold rise in numer of marine heatwaves,” he said. Koll linked marine heatwaves to sudden rise in moisture-laden warm winds which often results in heavy rainfall and thunder. “Chances are there that the marine heatwaves have triggered thunder close to Bay of Bengal and neighouring Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand and MP,” he said. The marine heatwaves, most of which is recorded through satellite imagery, have pointed that the average sea surface temperature, which is around 27-28 degrees Celsius, have often touched 30-31 degrees Celsius. “One buoy deployed at the Bay of Bengal captured temperature as high as 34 degrees Celsius, indicating that the oceans are acting as the heat sink of global warming and eventually resulting in extreme weather conditions in the coastal regions and neighbourhood,” Koll said. IMD also pointed to other anomalies in weather events recorded last year. Mohapatra said 2021 was the 5th warmest year on record since 1901. “The mean annual average temperature increased by 0.44 degrees Celsius and we have noticed that the mean temperature in most parts of the country has increased,” he said, adding that the anomalies could be directly linked to climate change.