Lightning incidents in India have brought the focus back to the debate about the possible relation of the increasing occurrences with climate change.
Lightning strikes killed at least 74 people across the Indian states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on 11 July this year. Of these, 41 were reported from northern Uttar Pradesh.
Strikes are getting deadlier
In one incident, the lightning strike killed at least 16 people and injured many more in Jaipur in northern India when the victims were taking selfies in the rain on top of a watch tower at the city's 12th Century Amer Fort, a popular tourist attraction.
Bengal has recorded the highest number of lightning strikes from cloud to ground per square km in India in 2020 as per the 2020 South Asia Lightning Reporthttps://t.co/Yed6zutxbu
— The Telegraph (@ttindia) August 2, 2021
Deaths due to lightning have become frequent in the country.
As many as 18.5 million lightning strikes were recorded in India between 1 April 2020 and March 2021, according to India’s second annual report on lightning released by Lightning Resilient India Campaign (LRIC).
This was an increase of 34 percent over the previous year in which at least 1,697 people died in this period, according to government figures.
Just over 400 victims were in Bihar. In Uttar Pradesh, there were 238 deaths and nearly the same number in Madhya Pradesh.
The record is with the southern state of Andhra Pradesh which, in the space of 13 hours in April 2018, recorded 36,479 lightning strikes.
Response
Set up in 2019, the LRIC is an initiative of the Climate Resilient Observing-Systems Promotion Council which works with the National Disaster Management Authority, Indian meteorological department and state governments.
Climate change may be sparking more lightning across the world, and there is increasing scientific evidence pointing to the trend.
“An increase in lightning incidents may be directly related to the climate crisis, and the availability of more moisture over land due to warming,” said S D Pawar, project director at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune.
Scientists have also established a link between cyclonic storms that developed over the Bay of Bengal and weather disturbances over the Arabian Sea during the post-monsoon season.
Coastal areas at risk
“This was driving the lightning activity over the coastal and adjoining continental region of the peninsula,” a senior official from the Indian Meteorological Department told RFI.
“With a one degree Celsius increase, the frequency of lightning strikes goes up by 12 percent and could increase by up to 50 percent by the end of the century in India.”
Enough global studies are now emerging about this phenomenon.
A 2015 California University report has projected that an increase in average global temperatures by 1ºC would increase the frequency of lightning by 12 per cent.
Our hearts are with the families of the victims of India’s recent lightning storms.
— Climate Reality (@ClimateReality) July 14, 2021
The science is clear: deadly lightning strikes are becoming more common due to the climate crisis — and real climate action is the best way to protect communities. https://t.co/HCQytQMWrx
Lightning rarely hits people directly but such strikes are almost always fatal.
People are most commonly struck by what are called “ground currents”.
The electrical energy, after hitting a large object such as a tree on earth, spreads laterally on the ground for some distance, and people in this area receive electrical shocks.
It becomes more dangerous if the ground is wet or if there is metal or other conducting material on it. Water is a conductor, and many people are struck by lightning while standing in flooded paddy fields.
Lightning is not only an indicator of climate change; it also affects the global climate directly. Lightning produces nitrogen oxides, which are strong greenhouse gases.
