The effects of abnormal climate change are becoming clearer by the day around the world. In some places continuous heavy rain has brought floods and landslides, in others powerful typhoons, and elsewhere intense heatwaves have disrupted daily life.

El Nino has emerged as a major cause of the extreme weather seen recently in Bangladesh, India, China, Japan, Taiwan, Pakistan and various countries in Europe. The United Nations' World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has already warned that El Nino's effects could intensify in the coming months.

A report by Bangladesh's Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief on 11 July said that as of 6pm on Saturday seven districts had been flooded: Khagrachhari, Rangamati, Bandarban, Cox's Bazar, Chattogram, Moulvibazar and Habiganj. Fifty-eight upazilas in these districts are under water.

Floods, hill runoff and landslides have killed 44 people so far and injured 39. Currently 2,67,918 families are marooned, and the number of people affected has risen to 10,22,963.

Heavy rain began in the Chattogram region on 4 July under the influence of monsoon rainfall. As the flooding worsened, it spread to Moulvibazar and Habiganj in Sylhet division.

Not only Bangladesh: continuous rain has caused a dire situation in various Indian states too. Heavy rain has disrupted life in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Mizoram, Tripura and West Bengal.

In Himachal Pradesh, heavy to very heavy rain has cut road links in many areas, damaged bridges, uprooted trees and forced schools to close in many places. In Kullu district a 70-year-old man was killed by rocks falling from a hillside. In Shimla, 27 link roads are closed, and rockfalls have occurred at various points including the Kalka-Shimla national highway.

In Uttarakhand, continuous rain has closed 118 roads. A landslide damaged about 100 metres of the Yamunotri national highway, and repeated rockfalls are disrupting traffic on the Gangotri highway. The Ganges, the Yamuna and their tributaries are also rising fast.

In Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, flash floods damaged many houses, and police moved at least 25 people to safety. In Mizoram's Lunglei district, more than 80 families were moved to safety as the river rose. Landslides have closed several important roads including a national highway, and many tourists have been stranded for days. In Tripura, floods have damaged more than 4,000 houses and about 11,000 people are in shelters. In West Bengal, heavy rain has caused waterlogging and traffic jams in Kolkata and other areas, and office-goers in places such as Salt Lake Sector V suffered badly. The India Meteorological Department said more widespread rain could fall in the north-eastern states from 10 to 16 July.

After wreaking havoc in Japan and Taiwan, the powerful Typhoon Bavi struck China's eastern Zhejiang province on Saturday night. More than 1.7 million people in China were evacuated before the storm.

In Taiwan, more than 10,000 people were moved from areas at risk of landslides. Power was cut to more than 150,000 households, and more than 1,100 domestic and international flights were cancelled. The capital, Taipei, recorded winds of more than 100 kilometres an hour and more than a metre of rain.

In Okinawa, Japan, more than 24,000 households lost power, 345 flights were cancelled and ferry services were suspended.

Before reaching China, the typhoon caused severe damage in the Philippines. Floods and landslides in the south of the country killed at least 17 people and left nine missing. More than 500,000 people were affected, and more than 11,000 were forced into shelters.

Because of heavy monsoon rain, Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued warnings of floods, flash floods and landslides across the country. It said continuous rain could cause waterlogging and urban flooding in low-lying areas and has raised the risk of landslides in hilly areas. Local administrations have been told to keep rescue teams and equipment ready.

The situation in Europe is also worrying. The European Union's climate monitoring service, the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said this June was the hottest June on record in western Europe. The average temperature in western Europe that month was 20.74 degrees Celsius, more than three degrees above the 1991-2020 average.

Thousands of people have died in the intense heat in France, Spain and Belgium. Germany's Robert Koch Institute said at least 5,120 people had died of heat-related causes in the country this year, 4,270 of them over the age of 75. According to experts, a high-pressure system known as a "heat dome" has made this heatwave even worse.

Against this backdrop, the World Meteorological Organization has warned that El Nino conditions have already begun and will strengthen between July and September. El Nino's effects usually peak between November and February.

WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said El Nino raises the risk of drought, heavy rain, intense heatwaves and abnormally high sea temperatures in different parts of the world. Early weather forecasts and warnings will play an important role in saving lives and reducing economic losses, she said.

According to experts, this change in the climate is no longer an isolated event. With El Nino and global warming combined, the risk of extreme weather in different regions of the world may continue in the coming months. So early disaster preparedness, effective warning systems and international cooperation now need the greatest attention.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.