New Delhi, June 23 (EFE).- Extreme rainfall events and intense heatwaves marked the year 2024 in South Asia, a UN report said Monday.
According to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report, there were several extreme rainfall events, including on July 30, 2024, in the Wayanad district of the southern Indian state of Kerala.
Indian authorities recorded 350 deaths as a result of the disaster.
Furthermore, during the final phase of the monsoon, between Sep. 26 and Oct. 3, sustained rains were recorded in Nepal, which led days later to landslides that killed 246 people and injured 178.
With 1,000 families affected and 1,500 homes destroyed, the monsoon advanced over India on June 20, arriving earlier than usual, with cooler temperatures and cleaner air.
Its most destructive face is wreaking havoc in the northeast, with severe flooding already affecting hundreds of thousands of people.
At the same time, this phenomenon is exacerbated by other factors, such as deforestation and infrastructure construction, which have reduced the area’s natural water absorption capacity.
The monsoon is a vital phenomenon for India, providing nearly 70 percent of the country’s rainfall for agriculture and is considered the lifeline of an economy worth nearly $4 trillion.
Weeks earlier, heavy rainfall had affected the eastern Koshi region, particularly the town of Thane.
The WMO said that Pakistan was one of the countries in the world most vulnerable to flooding and the effects of extreme precipitation.
Regarding heat waves, the other meteorological phenomenon that most affected the subcontinent, the WMO drew attention to the periods of extreme temperatures that killed more than 450 people. EFE
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