‘Arctic warming causing heatwaves in India’, says study

Express News Service
HYDERABAD: One of the reasons for the deadly heatwaves in India that result in loss of lives every year is the rise in temperatures in the Arctic region due to global warming, as per a study conducted by researchers from India and Brazil, including one from University of Hyderabad.

The findings are of concern as the Arctic region is warming at an alarming rate. “In the Arctic region, temperature is increasing more than twice as fast as the global average,” stated a UoH press release.

It further said, “Indeed, several authors have shown that Indian heatwaves are increasing, but a possible cause is global warming. Thus, there is an urgent need to plan mitigation of this very adverse climate change.”

As per the study titled “Large-scale connection to Deadly Indian Heatwaves” published in the Quarterly Journal of Royal Meteorology, a correlation has been found between the phenomenon “Quasi-Resonant Amplification” (QRA) and occurrence of heatwaves in India.

The researchers suggest that heatwaves in India can be predicted at least four days in advance. The study says, “Our results confirm that maximum surface temperatures in spring over India show predictability with high statistical significance, about four days ahead.”

There were studies earlier that had found a connection between the occurrence of QRA in the summer season and extreme weather events such as the 2003 European heatwave, 2010 Pakistan floods, Russian heatwave and the 2011 Texas and Oklahoma heat waves.

However, the team of Indian and Brazilian researchers have found strong evidence that QRA occurs in the spring season (April-May) as well, when heatwaves occur in India.

Speaking to The New Indian Express, Govardhan Dandu, a PhD scholar from the Centre for Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences at UoH, who was part of the study, said, “The study confirms that the Arctic warming is one of the primary factors behind the deadly heatwaves in India. It has also been found to have an impact on the frequency and intensity of heatwaves.”