A study conducted
by the Centre for Climate Change at the Indian Institute of Tropical
Meteorology in Pune revealed that rising heat waves in the Indian Ocean and the
Bay of Bengal will affect rainfall in India.
The study pointed
out that this will lead to more rainfall in South India and less rainfall,
drought and cyclone variation in Central India.
Further,
it can also cause the formation of hurricanes that intensify rapidly.
Due to an increase
in temperature and the presence of strong El Nino in the tropical Indian Ocean,
the heat waves formation has quadrupled.
The study, published in the Journal of
Geophysical Research (JGR Oceans), found that this could lead to destruction of
coral reefs and marine plants. Ocean temperatures rise by more than 90 per cent
during heat waves.
The study also
revealed that 85 per cent of the coral reefs in the Gulf of Mannar were
destroyed by heat waves in May 2020.
Between 1982-2018, there were 66 heat waves