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The year 2022 saw several extreme weather events all over the world due to climate emergency. These events are expected to increase if the effects of climate change are not mitigated.
Vulnerable countries also geared up this year for a renewed battle over compensation for the growing hazards of global warming from richer countries, also known as loss and damage, at the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC).
Go through the following selection of Down To Earth’s articles on extreme weather events and its global impact.
This October, India experienced extreme weather events on 30 of the 31 days, according to India’s Atlas on Weather Disasters released by DTE-Centre for Science and Environment Data Centre.
There is more evidence of the worsening impact of global warming on the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) that straddles eastern Pakistan, northern India, southern Nepal and the whole of Bangladesh.
A loss and damage fund was created at the COP27, focusing on particularly vulnerable countries. But questions remain about who is eligible to receive money and who has to pay it.
Every state and Union territory (UT) reported dengue cases till November 2022. The increasing burden of dengue has often been linked with climate change, among other factors. India recorded 63,280 dengue cases as of September 30, 2022.
Growing reliance on fossil fuels have increased heat deaths, hunger, heat-related illnesses and infectious diseases. Some 98 million more people across the world reported moderate to severe food insecurity in 2020.
Climate change has impacted the frequency and ferociousness of cyclones in the region like elsewhere in the world. Frequency of very severe cyclonic storms during the post-monsoon season has increased by 1 event per a decade.
Uttar Pradesh, which was hit by drought till August, was flooded with water due to sudden heavy rains at a time when the southwest monsoon was well into its retreat. Three districts recorded 10,000 per cent more rainfall than normal in just 24 hours October 5, 2022.
Climate change is likely to trigger severe drought in India’s permanent snow and ice regions, impacting long-term water storage in the Himalayas, a new study warned.
Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology predicted a third consecutive event of La Nina could be underway, leading to additional rainfall along its east coast this summer. Southwest monsoon will likely extend till October, with detrimental impacts on Indian agriculture.
Cyclones are known to occur during pre-monsoon months of April, May, June and later in October, November and December. However, it is likely that cyclones in monsoon could become a new normal due to climate change.
East and North East India received below normal rainfall in June and July.
Climate disasters led to 4.9 million internal displacements in India last year.
It has been half a century since the Stockholm conference. We still seek the Stockholm declaration’s ideals, which shows how we need to up our game to prevent the planet’s environmental crisis.
The average global surface temperature January-December 2021 was the sixth highest since global records began in 1880.
Read more: 2021 sixth warmest year since 1880