How marine heatwave fuelled super cyclone Amphan
Context:
A new study has suggested that warm subsurface waters in the Bay of Bengal likely helped fuel the 2020 Amphan super cyclone.
Marine heatwaves:
- First described in 2011: The term “marine heatwave” was initially used to describe an extreme surface warming event off the west coast of Australia during 2010-11 austral summer.
- Marine heatwaves like The Blob has resulted in mass mortalities in marine mammals and birds, and collapse of fisheries and aquaculture in the US, Korea, etc.
- Marine heatwaves are periods of extremely high temperatures in the ocean (above the 90th percentile).
- These events cause marine habitat destruction due to coral bleaching, seagrass destruction, and loss of kelp forests, affecting the fisheries sector adversely.
- Impact on the Monsoon
- The marine heatwaves in the western Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal are found to result in dry conditions over the central Indian subcontinent.
- There is an increase in rainfall over south peninsular India in response to the heatwaves in the Bay.
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