South Asia's fatal floods caused by ‘extreme rainfall' linked to global warming
Indian subcontinent, providing relief from heat, irrigating the country's farms and replenishing its rivers.
However, as global heat increases, the rain is becoming more erratic and intense, creating the conditions for deadly floods.
Climate experts say the high temperatures and heavy rain are also contributing to the
melting of glaciers in the mountainous Himalayan region, causing catastrophic flooding and landslides.
The South Asian region has traditionally had two monsoon seasons. One typically lasts from June to September, with rains moving southwest to northeast. The other, from roughly October to December, moves in the opposite direction.
A taxi drives on a waterlogged street during heavy rain in Kolkata, India, on Tuesday. Photo: EPA
But with more planet-warming gases in the air, the rain now only loosely follows this pattern. This is because the warmer air can hold more moisture from the Indian Ocean, and that rain then tends to get dumped all at once.
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