Scientists claim 10 per cent heavier rains due to climate change caused Wayanad landslides
File photo: This handout photograph taken on August 1, 2024 and released by Humane Society International, India, shows an aerial view of the tea plantations after landslides in Wayanad. Photograph:( AFP )
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The models suggest that climate change caused a 10 per cent increase in the intensity of the rainfall, they said
The models suggest that climate change caused a 10 per cent increase in the intensity of the rainfall, they said
The devastating landslides which struck Kerala's Wayanad were triggered by incessant rainfall which was 10 per cent more intense due to climate change, according to a new study by the scientists from the World Weather Attribution (WWA) group.
The region recorded more than 140 mm of rain in a single day on highly soaked soils due to monsoon rainfall for two months. This triggered devastating landslides and floods claiming at least 231 lives in Wayanad, the researchers said.
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"The rainfall that triggered the landslides occurred in a region of Wayanad that has the highest landslide risk in the state. Even heavier downpours are expected as the climate warms, which underscores the urgency to prepare for similar landslides in northern Kerala," said Maja Vahlberg, a climate risk consultant at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre.
The team of 24 scientists from India, the US, the UK, and Sweden examined climate models with high resolutions to reflect the rainfall activity in the Wayanad region for calculating the influence of humans on climate change.
The models suggest that climate change caused a 10 per cent increase in the intensity of the rainfall, they said. The models also forecast a further four per cent increase in the intensity of rainfall if there is a rise in the world's average temperature by two degrees Celsius.
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However, a "high level of uncertainty" revolves around the research model as the region of study is small and mountainous with complicated dynamics of rainfall and climate.
According to scientists, events of this severity are likely to become more common in India and the rest of the world as the climate becomes warmer and warmer. In warmer temperatures air carries more moisture which leads to such heavy downpours in a single day.
Wayanad landslide was the third most intense in the state of Kerala since the Indian weather department started keeping records in 1901.
(With inputs from agencies)
