Symposium on “Green Energy”

Extreme Precipitation under Human-Induced Climate Change

The human-induced global warming has resulted in unprecedented changes in the atmospheric processes that include extreme precipitation. Thermodynamic theory suggests an increase of extreme precipitation at the rate of 7-8%/ degree C warming of temperature. Though the extreme precipitation increasing trend follows this rate globally, there are significant regional variations. The regional variations attribute to the varying contributions of dynamic and thermodynamic factors. Indian monsoon extremes have increased over the last few decades, and the IPCC has high confidence in this trend. The spatial variability of the Indian monsoon extremes has also increased enormously, showing the importance of local factors such as urbanization, water management, etc. The scaling of flooding with respect to warming may vary from case to case, depending on flood type, land use, land cover, and human interventions.