Why have lightning strikes increased in India?
Between April 2020 and March 2021, 18.5 million lightning strikes were officially recorded in India. This was a 34% increase from 13.8 million strikes the year before. Most hit states are Punjab, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Pondicherry, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal. Punjab tops the list with a yearly increase of 331%! Overall, 1,697 people were struck dead by lightning in India between March 2020 and April 2021, with 401 in Bihar alone.
But why is this happening?
Scientists, environmentalists, and meteorologists have been cracking their brains on this. Let’s look at some probable answers:
- A growing number of researchers are connecting lightning strike rates to climate change and rapid, thoughtless urbanisation.
- Seasonal data of lightning strikes is different for different states and even in different regions within states. All the more reason to point towards climate change in those regions
- Global warming could be the hidden villain. According to a study by the University of California, temperature is rising globally by 1 degree Celsius, and for every one degree, the frequency of lightning strike is increasing by 12%
- An increase in lightning incidents can also be linked to the availability of more moisture over land due to excessive warming, said the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune
- Cyclonic storms caused by low pressure zones over heated up ocean waters are bringing down the lightning on us. The Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea are India’s ‘cyclone hotspots’, making it more dangerous
- Are there lightning strikes during or after forest fires? Researchers in Australia linked higher condensation to the increased number of lightning strikes during the 2019-20 Australia forest fires
Is global warming giving us a warning?
We are all aware of the threat posed by rising temperature all over the world. Melting ice caps, increased cyclonic activities, floods, and more varieties of contagious diseases – the list of its effects keep getting longer. This abnormal heat is now increasing the threat of lightning strikes. Global warming is no more just a debate or school essay topic, it’s very real, and it’s a warning to make us think more about the environment.