Bengaluru: Bengalureans have pulled out their jackets and woolies, as the city has been experiencing bone-chilling cold over the last few days much before the onset of winter. The wintry conditions have been brought about by incessant rainfall over the last week.
The city is also on the verge of an unprecedented weather phenomenon. Another 10 mm of rain and Bengaluru will witness the heaviest rainfall for November in the last 100 years.
The seemingly unseasonal rain – some climatologists attribute it to the North East monsoon – has caught the attention of climate experts, who are now trying to draw a connection between extreme
weather events and climate change.
Just a month ago, the world saw two devastating weather events, Super Typhoon Koppu in the Philippines and Hurricane Patricia in Mexico, that took the lives of thousands and left million homeless.
These events along with the current spell of rain brought in from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh coasts are trying to send out a message that the Earth’s climate is in a flux, warned experts.
“These extreme weather events are a testimony to the fact that climate change is real and it is already happening. Increase in carbon emissions worldwide has a direct link with changing weather and thankfully, most parts of the world are now beginning to acknowledge this fact,” said Mr C.B. Ramkumar, a climate expert from Bengaluru.
“Greenhouse gases are warming the oceans, leading to extreme weather events. The natural disasters are becoming too frequent. World leaders will debate climate change issues in Paris this month-end, and we hope that they will come to an agreement on taking steps to minimise these extreme events,” he said.
Climate experts pointed out that several ‘climate models’ show that South India will see a rise in the volume of rainfall over the next 20 years. “If you look at the current trend, the pattern of rainfall has almost remained a constant. But the intensity of these events has definitely increased,” he said.
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