What are Cloudbursts and is Climate Change Making them More Frequent?

FILE - An elderly Kashmiri man walks on a road damaged by flash floods after a cloudburst on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, July 22, 2023. Dar Yasin - staff, ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE - An elderly Kashmiri man walks on a road damaged by flash floods after a cloudburst on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, July 22, 2023. Dar Yasin - staff, ASSOCIATED PRESS
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What are Cloudbursts and is Climate Change Making them More Frequent?

FILE - An elderly Kashmiri man walks on a road damaged by flash floods after a cloudburst on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, July 22, 2023. Dar Yasin - staff, ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE - An elderly Kashmiri man walks on a road damaged by flash floods after a cloudburst on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, July 22, 2023. Dar Yasin - staff, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Last Saturday, Mohammed Aslam was working in his kitchen garden when he heard his fellow villagers shouting that water was coming from the nearby foothills in southern Kulgam area in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Within moments, the farmer said, mud and muck from gushing water swept through the village, damaging scores of homes.
“It was sudden and swift,” Aslam said.
A cloudburst followed by flashfloods hit nearly a dozen villages in Kulgam, filling homes with mud and washing away some cattle, The Associated Press said.
A day before, on Friday night, another cloudburst in the neighboring arid, cold desert region of Ladakh triggered flashfloods and inundated parts of its major town, Leh. The floodwaters entered the town’s main market, damaging shops, sweeping away vehicles and leaving its streets a muddy mess.
Intense rainfall in the Himalayan regions of India’s Kashmir state and the adjacent mountainous cold desert of Ladakh last week destroyed roads and caused flooding of dozens of villages.
Cloudbursts are a common occurrence in Himalayan regions but experts are alarmed by the increase in extreme weather-related events.
Intense weather events, especially when more than 10 centimeters (3.94 inches) of rainfall occurs within a 10 square kilometers (3.86 square miles) region within an hour, are called cloudbursts. They have the potential to wreak havoc, causing intense flooding and landslides that affect thousands of people in mountainous regions.
Last year, a cloudburst triggered flash floods during an annual Hindu pilgrimage to a Himalayan Mountain cave in southern Kashmir, l eaving at least 16 people dead.
In 2010, dozens of villages and the main town of Leh in Ladakh were hit by the worst floods in its recent history. Homes and farm fields were devastated and over 250 people were killed.
Experts say the frequency of such events has been increasing in recent years partly due to climate change. They say damage caused by cloudbursts is also increasing because of unplanned development in mountain regions.
Cloudbursts are like a “a huge bucket filled with water that is toppled over,” said Anand Sharma, a retired meteorologist with the Indian Meteorological Department, the country’s weather agency. Born in the Himalayan region, Sharma has closely observed this phenomenon over his three-decade career.
Sharma says cloudbursts occur when cumulonimbus clouds — enormous water-filled, cauliflower-shaped clouds — empty their contents because of cold air pushing the water down. “Normally there are drafts flowing both up and down but in certain conditions, especially when the cloud grows up vertically, sometimes up to 16 kilometers (9.94 miles), cold air enters the cloud and the air flow moves only downwards,” he said.
Mukhtar Ahmed, an official at IMD's Kashmir office. said global warming is increasing the frequency of cloudbursts. “We are witnessing flash floods, cloudbursts and unusually high temperatures more often now,” he said.
Sharma said “Global warming is leading to more evaporation of water and because of this dense cumulonimbus clouds are forming, resulting in intense rainfall.” While some regions receive intense rainfall, he said global warming is resulting in prolonged droughts in other regions.
Experts say excessive deforestation and unplanned developments should be avoided in climate-vulnerable regions such as the Himalayas.
“The chances of landslides increase when there is excessive deforestation. Similarly, when there are known flood paths, it is best to avoid any construction in those regions,” said Mahesh Palawat a meteorologist with Skymet Weather, a private weather forecaster in India.
“It is important for people living on foothills or slopes to be moved to higher ground when heavy rains are likely to occur to minimize loss of life,” Palawat added.



China Heatwaves Boost Ice Factory Sales

A worker uses tongs to move ice blocks inside a refrigerated store at the Feichao Ice Factory in Hangzhou. Heatwaves across China have caused demand for ice to soar  - AFP
A worker uses tongs to move ice blocks inside a refrigerated store at the Feichao Ice Factory in Hangzhou. Heatwaves across China have caused demand for ice to soar - AFP
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China Heatwaves Boost Ice Factory Sales

A worker uses tongs to move ice blocks inside a refrigerated store at the Feichao Ice Factory in Hangzhou. Heatwaves across China have caused demand for ice to soar  - AFP
A worker uses tongs to move ice blocks inside a refrigerated store at the Feichao Ice Factory in Hangzhou. Heatwaves across China have caused demand for ice to soar - AFP

In a high-ceilinged room on the outskirts of eastern China's Hangzhou, workers use tongs to slide large blocks of frosty white ice along a metal track into a refrigerated truck.

Sales have picked up in recent weeks, boosted by heatwaves sweeping the whole country as summer sets in, the owner of Feichao ice factory, Sun Chao, told AFP.

Globally, heatwaves are becoming more frequent and intense because of climate change, experts say, and China is no exception -- 2024 was the country's hottest on record, and this year is also set to be a scorcher.

Last week, authorities warned of heat-related health risks across large swathes of eastern China, including Zhejiang province where Hangzhou is located.

"In the spring, autumn, and winter, a higher temperature of two to three degrees doesn't have a big impact on our sales," Sun said.

"But in the summer, when temperatures are slightly higher, it has a big impact."

Feichao is a relatively small facility that sells ice to markets, produce transporters, and event organizers.

As the mercury soared past 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in multiple cities across China recently, ice from businesses like Sun's was used to cool down huge outdoor venues.

In neighbouring Jiangsu province, organisers of a football match attended by over 60,000 people placed more than 10,000 large blocks of ice around the stadium, according to the state-owned Global Times.

As AFP watched lorries being loaded with Feichao's ice on Wednesday, an employee from a nearby seafood shop came on foot to purchase two ice blocks -- each selling for around $3.50 -- hauling them off in a large plastic bag.

"In May and June, I can sell around 100 tonnes a day. In July, that number grows, and I can sell around 300 to 400 tonnes," Sun told AFP.

China has endured a string of extreme summers in recent years.

In June, authorities issued heat warnings in Beijing as temperatures in the capital rose to nearly 40 degrees Celsius, while state media said 102 weather stations across the country logged their hottest-ever June day.

The same month, six people were killed and more than 80,000 evacuated due to floods in southern Guizhou province.

China is the world's biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases that scientists generally agree are driving climate change and making extreme weather more intense and frequent.

It is also a global leader in renewable energy, adding capacity at a faster rate than any other country.