Indian Ocean warming at faster pace

The Indian Ocean is warming at a higher rate than other oceans, the latest report by IPCC said on Monday, with scientists warning that India will witness increased heat waves and flooding. The authors of IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), "Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis", said the warming of the ocean will lead to a rise in sea levels, which will contribute to more frequent and severe coastal flooding in low-level areas.

"For a country like India, some of the increase in heat waves is masked by aerosol emissions and reducing that is important for air quality. We will also see an increase in the heat waves, heavy rainfall events and the further melting of glaciers, which will impact a country like India, more compound events from sea-level rise, which could mean flooding when tropical cyclones hit. These are some of the impacts which will not go away," Friederike Otto, one of the authors of the report, said.