Climate Change may lead to extensive floods in southern India: Study

NEW DELHI: A new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change warned that an uneven shift in the tropical rain belt will occur due to climate change in future, ultimately leading to excessive floods in certain parts of India. This tropical rain belt is a narrow band of heavy precipitation near the Earth’s equator.

The study examined the computer simulations from 27 state-of-the-art climate models. It involved measuring the tropical rain belt’s response to a scenario where greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise through the end of the current century. Researchers found that a northward shift of the tropical rain belt over the Indian Ocean and eastern Africa might result in intensified flooding in southern parts of the Indian subcontinent. The study established that this could also affect biodiversity and food security by 2100.