Kochi (PTI): Human-induced global warming and climate change is a reality, which is occurring at a more alarming pace than was expected, Scientists of National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, said.
In their paper on ‘Is Arabian Sea responding to global warming and undergoing a climate shift’, presented at the International Symposium on Marine Ecosystems here, they said the sea surface temperature (SST) has increased after 1995 “associated with a five-fold increase in the development of cyclones of more than 100 km per hour in the Arabian Sea during the past 12 years.”
“Concurrent with these events, there are warmer winters, decreased monsoon rainfall, both occurring over India and an increase in the phytoplankton biomass in the Arabian Sea,” they said.
Warmer winters cause a reduction in the annual wheat yield while decreased rainfall results in the decline of vegetation, increase in aridity and increased occurrence of heat spells over India, they said.