摘要

社论:气候变化的迹象

作者(年代):r . Manivanan

人类活动引起的气候变化影响着热带气旋的发生频率和强度。一个非常严重的气旋风暴，塔克泰??在喀拉拉邦、果阿邦、卡纳塔克邦、马哈拉施特拉邦和古吉拉特邦造成破坏的阿拉伯海上空，已经有了气候变化可能造成破坏的迹象。它加剧的速度证明了全球变暖的影响。海洋变暖意味着飓风正在以更快的速度增强。气候科学家警告说，阿拉伯海正在迅速成为气旋的温床。早些时候，孟加拉湾曾经有更多的气旋，因为海面温度一直保持在28摄氏度以上，而阿拉伯海地区则保持略低的温度。但是，由于气候危机，阿拉伯海的海面温度在过去的一个世纪里迅速上升。现在，温度通常高于??暖池门槛??，这有助于强气旋的形成。 The intensity of cyclones has a direct bearing on global warming. Scientists have predicted that there could be a 5% increase in maximum cyclonic wind speeds if the world warmed by two degree Celsius by 2100. Rising seawater levels will intensify the destructive impact of the cyclonic storms due to increased storm surges which inundate coastal areas, bringing in seawater that decreases soil fertility and corrodes buildings. Tropical cyclones have caused 28.6% of the mortalities in the last five decades, second only to floods responsible for maximum human deaths. The strategies to minimise the losses due to natural disasters must be based on climate science. There is a growing consensus that human activities are influencing some aspects of these extreme weather events, although the exact extent of the human influence is still difficult to determine. The world currently experiences about 100 tropical cyclones a year. As global warming gathers pace, intense cyclones from the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea are making landfall with greater frequency every year. In fact, it must be said that 2020 was the year of cyclones when cyclone Amphan formed over the Bay of Bengal and travelled at great speed towards the Bengal coast, turning into a super cyclone within 24 hours. It was supercharged by gathering energy from the anomalously high sea surface temperatures in the Bay of Bengal. About a week after Amphan caused widespread havoc in West Bengal, cyclone Nisarga formed over the Arabian Sea and struck Maharashtra coast as a destructive storm front. There is a need for governments to improve cyclone preparedness plans and to invest more in monitoring technologies to track cyclones. At present, many States lack modern early warning systems and multi-purpose cyclone shelters.