The first storm of the year, Cyclone Biparjoy, which is now brewing in the Arabian Sea, is intensifying quickly. The Joint Typhoon Warning Centre reported that since Tuesday, the cyclone had accelerated by 74 kmph or 40 knots.
“Cyclonic storm Biparjoy over east-central and along southeast Arabian Sea moved nearly north-northeastwards with of speed of 5 km during the last six hours, turning into a severe cyclonic storm rapidly and lay centered over the same region at 8:30 hours, about 880 km west-southwest of Goa, 990 km southwest of Mumbai, 1060 km south-southwest of Porbandar and 1360 km south of Karachi.” the IMD said in an update regarding the cyclone.
Scientists claim that because of climate change, cyclonic storms in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal are increasing quickly and lasting for extended periods of time.
“The increase in cyclone activity in the Arabian Sea is tightly linked to the rising ocean temperature and increased moisture availability under global warming.” said Roxy Mathew Koll, Climate Scientist at the Indian Institue of Tropical Meteorology and Lead IPCC author.
The IMD said on Tuesday that the cyclone will likely affect monsoon development. “After the onset over Kerala, the monsoon will remain “weak” until the storm degenerates around the 12th of June”, said Mahesh Palawat, vice-president (climate and meteorology), Skynet Weather.