Rising sea temperatures fuelling cyclones in the Indian Ocean
The climate crisis is increasing the frequency and intensity of cyclones in the Indian Ocean, say scientists.
Two major cyclones have battered India within a week, resulting in the evacuation of more than a million people, loss of life on land and at sea, and the disruption of fishing and maritime trade.
Now scientists say global heating is accelerating the rate of ocean warming and leading to more frequent and more severe storms in the region.
India is especially vulnerable as 14% of its 1.3 billion population live in the coastal belt, and that number is forecast to rise threefold by 2060.
Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, said: “The entire Indian Ocean is warming at a faster rate compared to the Atlantic or Pacific. And within the Indian Ocean, the western parts of the Indian Ocean are warming much more.
“We see that it [sea surface temperature rise] is connecting well with the changes in the intensity and frequency of cyclones especially in the Arabian Sea and also the rapid intensification.”
Warming in the Indian Ocean has also been linked to locust swarms, flooding in Africa, Australian bushfires, and changes in global rainfall patterns.
