New Delhi: A rapid and significant decline in Arctic sea ice will lead to an increase in intense precipitation events (IPEs) across South Asia, exposing people to disasters associated with extreme rain, a recent research paper published in IOP Science said.
Climate scientists from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, the ministry of earth sciences, and others investigated the tropical rainfall response to the declining Arctic sea ice using observations and climate model simulations.
The Arctic sea ice decline has been accelerating with climate change, the research paper published on May 6 said.
The paper suggested that intense rain events, like those recorded during the 2018 floods in Kerala or the 2013 floods in Uttarakhand, will increase in frequency. Both of these events were intense precipitation events. Rainfall events that exceed a threshold of 150 mm day−1 (in a grid point) are counted as extreme rainfall events.
Scientists found an increase in IPEs, especially during the last two decades. Periods with higher IPEs are associated with a decline in June-July-August Arctic sea ice. The larger increase in IPEs in recent decades often co-occurs with larger Arctic sea ice loss, the paper said.
