Cyclone Amphan makes landfall: Scientists say tropical cyclones have become more destructive due to global warming, climate change

Cyclone Amphan has made landfall in eastern India. The West Bengal and Odisha government have had to evacuate over six lakh people from vulnerable areas due the cyclone. Experts are now saying that occurrence of such intense cyclones is due to global warming and warm sea surface temperatures. Tropical cyclones in the past four decades have brought destruction around the globe. A study conducted on the occurrence of tropical cyclones has confirmed that with rising temperature of oceans, more such events would take place in the future, reported The Guardian. [caption id=“attachment_8388801” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Visuals of Cyclone Amphan from Digha. ANI[/caption] Scientists, while analysing satellite data from 1979 to 2017, came across the fact that destructive cyclones risen in numbers during this period. These cyclones bring winds at a speed of about 185km/h. The study, published in journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was conducted by scientists at the US government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The study has revealed that the probability of a cyclone delivering wind speeds greater than 185km/h has increased by about 15 per cent over the 39 years. “The research suggests that the climate change signal in the data is potentially already emerging and this is something that climate scientists have been saying for some time,” said Hamish Ramsay, a senior research scientist at CSIRO who studies cyclones. A report published in The Tribune also says that global warming is making these cyclones more powerful with time. If the emission of greenhouse gases is not reduced, the world’s coastal population would bear the brunt of typhoons or hurricanes, the report quoted environmentalist Soumya Dutta as saying. Due to global heating and climate change, the occurrence of such storms has seen a rise of over 250 per cent in 40 years.