제 7 호 Is This Year’s Rainy Season Related to Climate Change?
Kicker: WORLD (CLIMATE CHANGE)
Is This Year’s Rainy Season Related to Climate Change?
By Eugene Ha, Reporter
This summer's monsoon season was longer than usual and had more precipitation, but it rained a lot not only in Korea but also around the world. The damage was also considerable. For the first time in nine years, the water in the Han River overflowed and some spaces were closed. The heavy rains, landslides, and flooding in some regions caused a lot of damage, deaths and victims. This rainy season was caused by torrential rains that continued in narrow areas in a short time. The same climate phenomenon occurred in China, India and Japan too. Why did this happen? Is it related to global warming?What more phenomena will we face in the future?
2020 monsoon season: 50 days for the first time in history
It was difficult weather to predict at all, as the KMA's forecast for this summer was wrong in May, when it predicted hot and low precipitation. This summer's monsoon season was recorded as the longest since 1973. The Jeju rainy season began on June 10 and lasted 49 days, ending on July 28. The central region began on June 24 and lasted nearly two months (54 days) before ending on August 16. Eight typhoons occurred this summer, and three of them, including the fifth typhoon "Jangmi," the eighth typhoon "Bavi" and the ninth typhoon "Mysak," have affected Korea. In addition, the type of rain has changed too. There were many forms of localized heavy rain that poured down suddenly. However, it was not just for our country.
There has been more rain due to climate change all over the world. In southern China, floods continued for nearly two months this summer, and more than 50,000 people were affected. Unprecedented downpours caused the Sansha Dam to blow up and control the water level. Japan also suffered record downpours that killed more than 70 people across the country. Originally cool in Russia's Siberia region, the permafrost melted and a large forest fire broke out. Lastly, India's Kajiranca National Park was also flooded, causing a number of victims. This climate change is rapidly changing the climate environment in East Asia.
Various causes of this phenomenon
Let's take a look at this climate change and other factors of the weather.
① Blocking phenomenon
The cold air in the north has prevented the seasonal rain front from moving northward, so the seasonal rain front continues to stay. The reason why the rainy season is getting longer this year is because of the melting of glaciers in the Arctic. The melting of the Arctic ice means that the area is warm, and the warmer Arctic side air pushed the cold air from the northern continent, including Russia, toward our country. Originally, the North Pacific high pressure pushed up the cold air and pushed the rainy front north, but the warm air zone was formed in the north, so the cold air could not go up and got stuck, so the rainy season slowed down and the rainy season became longer.
② Instability in the atmosphere
Other causes include climate change and Arctic warming, as well as instability in the atmosphere over the Korean Peninsula. The atmospheric instability changes the air current and water vapor supply, affecting precipitation. They say local convective downpours are frequent due to atmospheric instability.
③ Butterfly effect of global warming
As Arctic temperatures continue to rise, glaciers and snow, which have served as reflectors, melt and reveal the ground, becoming an "absorbent plate" that accepts sunlight. In other words, climate change in the Arctic and Siberia is creating a derivative effect of rain-pouring warming in Northeast Asia, including Korea.
Problems related to global warming
∙ Carbon emission
Carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere due to the use of fossil fuels increases the temperature of the earth's atmosphere. Because greenhouse gases surround the Earth, the heat energy that has to go into space cannot go out and returns to Earth. The properties of carbon dioxide that break energy equilibrium are cited as the main culprit behind global warming. If carbon dioxide emissions increase, the temperature of the atmosphere will also rise and the Earth will continue to heat up, eventually threatening not only the ecosystem but also our lives.
∙Amazon
Deforestation of tropical forests is a major problem in Southeast Asia and Brazil's Amazon River basin. When tropical forests are destroyed, the aborigines' living areas disappear, floods and droughts expand, and cause problems such as a decrease in oxygen production and an increase in global warming.
In the future, climate change will occur more quickly and irregularly. This past summer it continually rained a lot, led to floods, and it was not a simple summer rainy season with similar situations in neighboring countries. There was something in common, and it seems to be linked to warming and we are not sure what sort of climate change will come to us in the future. Therefore, we need to prepare for not only the rainy season but also the climate change that will come in the future and prepare fundamental measures.
Sources:
https://www.nocutnews.co.kr/news/5409064
https://www.donga.com/news/article/all/20200911/102886144/1
http://www.newsjeju.net/news/articleView.html?idxno=348269
https://n.news.naver.com/article/052/0001469900
http://goodnews1.com/news/news_view.asp?seq=101391
http://www.segye.com/newsView/20200804523391?OutUrl=naver
https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=2060876&cid=47334&categoryId=47334
