Swathes of India are battling deadly floods and landslides after heavy monsoon rains, just the latest example of how the vast country is on the frontline of climate change.
July 25,2021 Swathes of India are battling deadly floods and landslides after heavy monsoon rains, just the latest example of how the vast country is on the frontline of climate change. In the first seven months of this year alone the impoverished nation of 1.3 billion people has experienced two cyclones, a deadly glacier collapse in the Himalayas, a sweltering heatwave and killer floods. Melting glaciers In February, a ferocious flash flood hurtled down a remote Indian Himalayan valley, sweeping away homes, a hydro plant and around 200 people. Only 60 bodies have been found. Experts believe the cause was a massive chunk of glacier—15 football fields long and five across—breaking off high in the mountains. A glaciologist who investigated the site told AFP the catastrophe was « clearly a fallout of climate change and in itself a tell-tale of our future ». In the Indian Himalayas, about 10,000 glaciers are receding at a rate of 30 to 60 metres (100 to 200 feet) per decade as global temperatures rise. In 2013, a flash flood in the same area killed 6,000 people. More cyclones Cyclones are not a rare sight in the northern Indian Ocean but scientists say they are becoming more frequent and severe as sea temperatures rise. In May Cyclone Tauktae claimed 155 lives in western India including dozens working on oil rigs off Mumbai.
