Cochin: The Indian Meteorologists suggested extreme sea-level and extreme rainfall in the coming years during the International Symposium on Tropical Meteorology (INTROMET) 2021 on Tuesday.
Talking on the INTROMET 2021 theme entitled Climate: Consequences and Challenges, Climate Scientist Swapna Panikal pointed at the possibility of extreme sea level and said, “Ocean water expansion and glacier melting contributes to the rise in sea levels when heat is added. Oceans absorb more than 91% of the heat and have a higher heat capacity than other components of the earth.”
“The global mean sea-level, especially over the Indian Ocean and the Arabian sea, is gradually increasing and is expected to increase by 15-20cm over the Indian Ocean region by 2050.”
“Extreme sea levels are going to increase as storms will surge during severe cyclones and high tides to produce higher elevation of the sea level,” she added.
Former Ministry of Earth Sciences Secretary, M. Rajeevan, suggested an increase in the heavy Northeast monsoon events and indicated an increase in heavy to extremely heavy rainfall events in the upcoming years. “We are experiencing these events over several parts of Peninsular India this season. Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka will be impacted and should be prepared.”
“A research roadmap should be developed for a better understanding of the role of Indian and Atlantic Oceans on monsoon variability with more focused observations for the Indian Ocean region,” he added.
Hosted by the Cochin University of Science and Technology and Indian Meteorological Society (IMS), the event will run from November 23 to 26.
(Avya Mathur)