Impact of climate change? Maharashtra's Shirdi witnesses hailstorm, crops damaged

New Delhi: A hailstorm, accompanied by heavy rainfall, hit Maharashtra's Shirdi on Tuesday (December 28, 2021). 

The hailstorm has reportedly damaged crops of grapes and onion in Rahata, Shrirampur and Nevasa in the Ahmednagar district.

According to the India Meteorological Department, isolated thunderstorms, lightning and hailstorm are also likely over Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Sikkim on December 29 and December 30.

This comes amid 2021 being one of the most important years in history that saw climate change being discussed at major events. The year, however, also witnessed some extreme weather events that shattered records around the globe with hundreds dying in storms and heatwaves and farmers struggling with drought. 

Wildfires in 2021 also set new records for carbon emissions and swallowed forests, towns and homes.

ALSO READ | From killer heatwaves to floods, climate change worsened weather extremes in 2021

Many of these events are said to be exacerbated by climate change and scientists say that there are more to come.

A report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on climate change, that was released this year, also had a serious warning for several countries including India.

It claimed that the country's financial capital Mumbai will be one of the worst affected coastal regions by climate change. The report suggests that almost 65 per cent of the city will be submerged in the coming times.

ALSO READ | Climate fury: Kashmir’s apple orchards may vanish, fear researchers

The IPCC report also stated that Kolkata will also be impacted by the rise of sea-level rise as most of the areas of the city, including Baranagar, Rajpur Sonarpur, and regions surrounding Howrah like Santragachi, Balitikuri, are feared to be drowned. 

Chennai is also expected to be impacted the most, while Tamil Nadu's other coastal areas like Chidambaram, Mahabalipuram, Kalpakkam, Marakkanam, Chunampet, Thiruporir, Velachery are also at risk of getting flooded due to the rise in sea level.

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