Monsoon rains alter across India as Indian Ocean heatwaves rise

The oceans carry a fundamental role in controlling the planet’s climate system. Indeed, even a little change in its temperature can considerably adjust the worldwide climate patterns.

Worldwide ocean temperatures are additionally increasing because of excessive absorption of heat trapped by greenhouse gas. Such ocean warming drives uncommon changes in marine systems, ocean levels, and surprisingly climate patterns. 

Famed meteorologist, Roxy Mathew Koll from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, in his study, has found how ocean heatwaves in the Indian Ocean adjust the monsoon designs during the southwest storm season. 

“Environment model projections recommend further warming of the Indian Ocean later on, which will probably heighten the ocean heatwaves and their effect on the rainstorm precipitation. Since the recurrence, force, and region covered by the heatwaves are expanding, we really want to improve our sea observation to screen these occasions precisely and update our climate models to foresee the difficulties introduced by a warming world”, clarifies Dr. Koll.

The results of the study, published in the journal ‘JGR Oceans’

‘Marine heatwaves’ are prolonged durations of abnormally high temperatures of the ocean. This is liable for coral bleaching, seagrass destruction, reduction of kelp forest, and many other episodes of oceanic ravaging. These marine heatwaves threaten marine biodiversity and ecosystems, make extreme weather more likely, and negatively impact the fisheries, aquaculture and tourism industries.

Also, read Video: Why the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans Don’t Mix

Scientists have analyzed marine heatwaves occurring across the Indian Ocean as a rapidly rising phenomenon. According to them, such events were infrequent, but the dynamics have changed and this has become a regularly occurring event for almost every year. A total of 66 heatwave events were recorded in a span of 36 years – 1982 to 2018, in the Indian Ocean, while the Bay of Bengal recorded 94. This concludes that there has been a steep rise in ocean heatwaves per decade.

In the western Indian Ocean, the frail breezes additionally diminish the heat shipped by sea currents from the close central districts towards the north, strengthening the ocean heatwave. Thus, these heatwaves sway the storm by decreasing the rainfall over the central Indian subcontinent while improving it over the southern peninsula. 

A new report clarifies that increased temperature of the oceans is a new “normal” for the world and the Indian Ocean has crossed the 50% limit of extreme heat way back in 2007.