Krishna AchutaRao, professor with the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, talks about what modern attribution science can say about loss and damage as well as historical responsibility
Till a decade ago, one couldn't attribute extreme weather events to human activity. But that has changed now. Climate scientists can now assess how the frequency and intensity of such events have changed due to human-induced climate change.
Krishna AchutaRao, professor with the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, talks about what modern attribution science can say about loss and damage as well as historical responsibility, in a discussion with the Centre for Science and Environement, a Delhi-based non-profit.
He gives an instance of the kind of experiments that can be carried out to estimate this scientifically. There is nothing new with heatwaves occuring, except that they have become more intense, frequent and last longer, AchutaRao mentioned.
Decades-long observations as well as climate models can be used to study the frequency and intensity of such events in today's climate and what it would be in a hypothetical situation when Earth is devoid of human beings. Comparing the two emissions scenarios will tell us how climate change has contributed to the extreme weather events the world is experiencing today.
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