By Sameer Yasir
Torrential rainfall and floods have killed more than 200 people and displaced millions across South Asia, the result of more frequent extreme weather and rapid urbanization that has pushed people into flood-prone areas.
In recent days, more than 100 people were killed in India alone and nearly 40 died in Afghanistan. Flooding and landslides have killed more than 100 people in Nepal in recent weeks. In Bangladesh, more than 2 million people were affected when dangerous flooding after heavy rains caused major rivers to overflow.
Swollen rivers have breached embankments, particularly in India and Bangladesh, ravaging buildings, bridges and other infrastructure. Rains have also destroyed villages and crops.
Floods are not unusual in South Asia, home to about one quarter of the world’s population. Every year, the monsoon season, which usually begins in June and lasts until September, brings rains that are crucial for millions of farmers in India and other South Asian countries. But in recent years, climate change has amplified flood threats.
Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, a research center, said extreme rainfall events in India have tripled since 1950, according to his research.
“We need to be perpetually prepared for these kind of extreme rainfall events across South Asia,” Koll said. “There is a definite shift in monsoon patterns with more extreme rainfall events and long dry spells becoming a new reality.”
Scientists say rapid urbanization and the expansion of towns and cities along river banks and coastlines have also increased chances of flood-related fatalities.
Comments