Latest news with #extremerainfall
Yahoo
a day ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
What are cloudbursts and why might a warming world make them even more dangerous?
Sudden and intense bursts of extreme rainfall are causing devastation across mountainous parts of South Asia, triggering flash floods, deadly mudflows and huge landslides that have washed out entire neighbourhoods and turned vibrant communities into heaps of mud and rubble. In northwest Pakistan, ferocious floods have crashed through villages, killing at least 321 people in the space of 48 hours, local authorities reported Saturday. More than ten villages in the Buner region of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province were devastated by flash flooding, and dozens of people are believed to still be trapped under the thick mud and debris. In India-administered Kashmir, at least 60 people were killed and more than 200 were missing when walls of mud and water gushed through the Himalayan town of Chashoti on Friday, according to Reuters news agency. Earlier this month, another surge of flood water tore through a village in India's mountainous Uttarakhand state, leaving at least four people dead. unknown content item - Local authorities in both countries have said much of the deadly floods and landslides were triggered by sudden and violent bouts of torrential rain called cloudbursts. Scientists say these extreme episodes of rain, be they cloudbursts or longer periods of torrential downpours, are set to get more frequent and ferocious in this ecologically fragile region as the climate crisis intensifies. Here's what to know. What is a cloudburst? Cloudbursts are sudden, highly localized downpours that can be destructive by the sheer volume of water they unleash in a short period of time, often triggering dangerous flash floods and landslides. They occur in mountainous regions, especially during the monsoon season, when there is a lot of moisture in the air. The areas that have been inundated by destructive rains and floods in recent weeks are in the foothills of South Asia's giant mountain ranges that are home to the world's tallest peaks and glaciers. Monsoonal air hits those mountains, rapidly cooling as it rises and condenses into dense clouds that can then unleash torrents. The India Meteorological Department defines a cloudburst as having a rainfall rate over 100 mm (4 inches) per hour. 'The Himalayas, Karakoram, and Hindu Kush are especially vulnerable because of their steep slopes, fragile geology, and narrow valleys that funnel storm runoff into destructive torrents,' Roxy Mathew Koll, climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, told CNN. Residents in Pakistan's hard-hit Salarzai described a torrent of mud and massive boulders that made the ground shake like an earthquake. Why are they so devastating? These extreme, localized bursts of rain are difficult to forecast. 'This is also a data-sparse region, whether we are studying cloudbursts or glacial outburst floods, making it harder to understand, monitor, and forecast these events,' said Koll. 'The storms are also too small and fast for precise prediction.' The region's high poverty levels, a lack of infrastructure and access to basic facilities are also barriers to communicating what little information is available to communities who live there. 'The bigger gap is not the technology gap, it's the communication gap,' said Islamabad-based climate expert Ali Tauqeer Sheikh. 'Weaker governance and lack of early warning systems' in these regions have compounded the problem, he added. Together with rampant deforestation and unplanned development, it's a deadly combination. 'Because of very heavy deforestation, any torrential rain and cloudburst will result in landslides, mudslides, they'll bring boulders and timber with them,' said Sheikh. There are often heavy casualties because 'a very high percentage of people live along the water bodies and the preparedness time is extremely limited,' he said. How is the climate crisis making extreme rain worse? Cloudbursts in the region have occurred with greater intensity and frequency in recent years, fuelled by record-shattering global temperatures. Warmer air soaks up water like a sponge, and all this extra moisture can result in extreme rain and sudden downpours like cloudbursts, especially when that air meets the mountains. 'Warmer oceans are loading the monsoon with extra moisture, and a warmer atmosphere holds more water, fueling intense rainfall when moist air is forced up steep mountain slopes,' said Koll, from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology. During the southwest monsoon season, annual rains fall across parts of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh brought by winds from the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea, which have undergone rapid warming in recent years. Before this year's floods, prolonged heatwaves had baked the region. 'For each degree that's higher than the average temperature, there's 7% greater moisture in the air,' said Sheikh. 'If there's a stronger heatwave in the South Asian subcontinent, in India or in Pakistan, we can assume the rainfall will be heavier.' And melting glaciers are only adding to the disaster. The massive ranges of the Himalayas and Karakoram region house thousands of glaciers, which are melting and losing mass at an increasingly rapid rate as the world warms. 'While glacial melt does not directly cause cloudbursts, it creates unstable lakes and fragile terrain that can worsen their impacts through floods and landslides,' Koll said. How has climate change already affected the region? Pakistan is responsible for less than 1% of the world's planet-warming gases, European Union data shows, yet it is the most vulnerable nation to the climate crisis, according to the Global Climate Risk Index. Climate change has already altered the landscape of the region. 'The monsoon itself is shifting under climate change, with longer dry spells punctuated by short, extreme bursts of rain — patterns that have already tripled heavy rainfall events across India in recent decades,' said Koll. Pakistan suffered its most devastating monsoon season in recent times in 2022, when widespread flooding killed almost 2,000 people, displaced thousands and caused an estimated $40 billion in damage. Deadly flooding has occurred every year since. A recent study found that rainfall that hit Pakistan between June and July this year was heavier because of the climate crisis. In Pakistan, the timing, location and quantity of monsoon rains has shifted so that that 'average rainfall seems to have decreased in Pakistan, but the frequency of torrential rains has increased,' said Sheikh. Drought and flooding can impact the country in the same month during the monsoon, so water availability is becoming more uncertain in a country already suffering a severe water crisis. 'That affects our food security and cropping patterns,' said Sheikh. The devastation and financial toll wrought by the floods in Pakistan, India and Nepal this year is what the climate crisis looks like at about 1.2 degrees Celsius of global warming since industrialization. But the world is on track for around 3 degrees Celsius of warming by the end of the century, as humans continue to burn planet-heating fossil fuels. And scientists warn every fraction of a degree of warming will worsen the impacts of the crisis. Call for countries to pull together The Himalayas, Karakoram and Hindu Kush regions span eight countries and extreme weather events in one have a knock-on effect in another. It is 'super critical' for the governments of these South Asian nations to come together, said Sheikh. 'We face the same set of problems, and there are similar solutions,' he said. 'But our ability to learn from each other and learn each other's scientific knowledge, communal knowledge, is absolutely handicapped. And that is very damaging for us.' But already fraught relations between Pakistan and India deteriorated to their lowest level in years in May when the two sides escalated a long-running conflict in Kashmir, leading India to suspend a key treaty that governs the sharing of the waters of the Indus river that flows through both countries. 'That's why the Indus Water Treaty needs another lease of life to tackle emerging climate threats and challenges in the water sector,' he said. For the millions of people who live downstream in India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, building resiliency is key. That means 'avoiding settlements, construction, and mining in hazard zones, enforcing climate-resilient infrastructure, and strengthening early warning systems,' said Koll.
Reuters
06-08-2025
- Climate
- Reuters
Monsoon peaks in south China, unleashing landslides, disease
BEIJING, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Rescue crews raced on Wednesday to clear debris and flooded roads as southern China braced for more extreme rainfall and spreading infection after some of the worst downpours this century, as East Asian monsoon rains peak. Forecasters warned of more thunderstorms after the century's second-heaviest August rains pounded Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, forcing its Baiyun airport, one of the world's busiest, to cancel 363 flights and delay 311. The day before, the skies above Hong Kong and the high-tech cities of China's Pearl River Delta turned livid and dumped the heaviest August rainfall since 1884 on the Asian financial centre. Rescue crews in Guangdong scrambled to open drains and pump water away from urban areas, state media said, as the intense rain set off mudslides and felled trees on highways, tearing away road surfaces to expose cabling and other infrastructure. Video images showed roads transformed into brown waterways, threatening to worsen a major outbreak of Chikungunya, fuelled by mosquitoes thriving in stagnant flood water, which had been on a downtrend before the latest rains. Guangdong had reported more than 7,000 of the virus infections earlier. China has suffered weeks of atmospheric chaos since July as it is battered by downpours heavier than usual batter with the East Asian monsoon stalling over its north and south. Weather experts link the shifting pattern to climate change, testing officials as flash floods displace thousands and threaten billions of dollars in economic losses. On Tuesday, Beijing allocated more than 1 billion yuan ($139 million) in disaster relief for Guangdong and the northern province of Hebei, as well as the capital, Beijing, and the northern region of Inner Mongolia, state news agency Xinhua said, including subsidies for damage to grain-growing areas. Extreme rainfall swept at least five people to their deaths in Guangdong over the weekend, triggering a large-scale search effort by more than 1,300 rescuers. Sixteen rivers across Guangdong threaten to breach their banks, with water levels at two sites reaching their highest since 2017 and 2018. The worst may be yet to come, with two to three typhoons expected to strike in August, emergency management authorities said on Tuesday. The city of Foshan west of Guangzhou has been the epicentre of the province's Chikungunya outbreak, while at least a dozen more have reported infections, which typically cause fever and severe joint pain, though deaths are rare. The next few weeks are especially daunting for disease prevention and control, say provincial authorities, after the flood season, worsened by typhoons and heavy rain, boosted mosquito activity. Spread by the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes, global infections of the disease number at least 240,000 this year. In a travel notice, opens new tab for Guangdong, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has urged "enhanced" precautions by visitors. ($1=7.1834 yuan)
The Guardian
06-08-2025
- Climate
- The Guardian
What is a cloudburst? The rare and intense weather event blamed for deadly India flash flood
A so-called 'cloudburst' has been identified as a potential cause of a river of sludge that swamped a village in northwest India, killing at least four people and leaving 100 more missing. The Indian Meteorological Department said on Wednesday that over the previous 24 hours extreme rainfall of 210 mm or more had been recorded in parts of northwest India, including the state of Uttarakhand where the disaster happened. Uttarakhand state chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the area had been hit by a 'cloudburst' before the deluge of water and debris swamped the village at Dharali. So what is a cloudburst? Meteorologists in India define a cloudburst as an event over a concentrated area of 30sqkm or less with rain falling at a rate of 100mm or more per hour. But there are complex processes that can go into these events. 'They usually happen in mountainous regions during monsoons,' said Ruchit Kulkarni, an Indian meteorologist studying extreme rainfall at the University of Melbourne. He said in the Himalayan foothills, moisture that often comes from the Arabian Sea to the west is swept up by mountains in a process known as orographic lift. This forms towering cumulonimbus clouds that can sustain large rain droplets. 'So we have this moist airflow being lifted up and the cloud gets bigger and bigger and with no chance to have rainfall, it becomes so heavy that at a point, it starts bursting,' said Kulkarni. Other factors, such as a bursting of a glacier or glacier lake, could also be behind the flood. A cloudburst was implicated in one of the nation's deadliest flood events in June 2013 at Kedarnath, also in Uttarakhand, when according to a UN report more than 6,000 people died. One study into the Kedarnath floods found more than half of the rainfall was likely linked to increases in greenhouse gases and aerosol particles in the atmosphere. Studies have found an increase in extreme rainfall events in India in recent decades as global temperatures have risen.
Reuters
06-08-2025
- Climate
- Reuters
Monsoon peaks in south China, unleashing landslides and a surge in virus cases
BEIJING, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Rescue crews across south China braced for a final onslaught of extreme rainfall on Wednesday, racing between heavy downpours to clear mudslide debris and drain waterlogged roads submerging cars, as the East Asian monsoon reaches a peak. Forecasters warned of more thunderstorms, a day after the skies above Hong Kong and the high-tech cities of China's Pearl River Delta turned black and unleashed the heaviest August rainfall since 1884 on the Asian financial centre. Videos showed shopping streets transformed into waterways in China's southern province of Guangdong, worsening an outbreak of chikungunya fuelled by a surge of mosquitoes thriving in the stagnant floodwaters. Guangdong has reported more than 7,000 cases of the virus so far. China is being battered by heavier-than-usual downpours as the East Asian monsoon stalls over its north and south, causing weeks of atmospheric chaos since early July. Meteorologists link the shifting pattern to climate change, testing officials as flash floods displace thousands and threaten billions of dollars in economic losses. Beijing allocated over 1 billion yuan ($139.21 million) in disaster relief on Tuesday to support flood relief efforts in the provinces of Guangdong and Hebei, as well as in Beijing and the northern region of Inner Mongolia, state news agency Xinhua reported, including subsidies for damage to grain-growing areas. The extreme rainfall is expected to ease in the coming days, after sweeping at least five people to their deaths in Guangdong over the weekend and prompting a large-scale search operation involving over 1,300 rescuers. Rescue crews on Tuesday rushed to open drains and pump water from urban areas between the showers, state media reported, with the deluge triggering mudslides that brought silt and felled trees onto highways, washing away road foundations and exposing cabling and other embedded infrastructure. But the rains are pushing Guangdong province's flood preparedness to the brink. Sixteen rivers across the province have risen to levels that risk breaching their banks, according to Chinese state media, with water levels at two regional hydrology stations reaching their highest marks since 2017 and 2018. Even as the East Asian monsoon begins to wane, China's weather authorities warn the worst may not be over, with two to three typhoons expected to strike in August, officials from the Ministry of Emergency Management said on Tuesday. ($1 = 7.1834 yuan)
The Guardian
01-08-2025
- Climate
- The Guardian
Weather tracker: deadly floods devastate northern China
At least 70 people have died in northern China after another bout of torrential rain triggered flooding, the latest in a series of extreme rainfall events in recent months. Between 23 and 29 July, Beijing and its surrounding areas recorded an average of 166mm, equivalent to the monthly norm. The suburban district of Miyun received the highest amount of rainfall, with 543mm recorded, equivalent to the region's annual average. The death toll included 31 people in a Miyun care home, 10 who were swept away in a minibus in Shangxi province, and eight people in a landslide in the city of Chengde. Floods also damaged roads and vital infrastructure, cutting off more than 130 rural villages and leading to the evacuation of more than 80,000 people from their homes. The increasing frequency of high-rainfall events in China has been linked to rising global temperatures; each degree in warming enables the atmosphere to hold 7% more moisture. Meanwhile, Japan is braced for Tropical Storm Krosa on Friday, which is expected to skirt past the south-eastern Kanto region via the Izu islands. Although Krosa travelled towards Japan during its initial north-westerly path, a forecasted change to a more north-easterly direction means the system is likely to avoid a direct hit. However, its close proximity to the Chiba region may bring 120-200mm of rain in 24 hours. This week, as much of Europe experiences below-average temperatures, parts of Scandinavia have been engulfed by unusually intense heat. Prolonged heatwave conditions swept the north of the continent in mid-July, driven by exceptionally high sea-surface temperatures off Norway's northern coast and a stubborn area of high pressure that brought sunny weather and sinking, compressing air. As a result, temperatures in Norway, Sweden and Finland rose 8-10C (46-40F) above seasonal norms and remained elevated for nearly two weeks. The Norwegian counties of Trøndelag and Nordland exceeded 30C for 13 consecutive days, including in Storforsheia, just north of the Arctic Circle. It was the warmest two-week period on record in several areas. In the past week, the heat has shifted north and east, easing across much of Norway and Sweden and pushing temperatures 10-15C above normal in Finland and north-western Russia. Temperatures in the upper 20s celsius are likely to persist for at least the next five days several hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle.
