Each year, from June to September, a series of heavy rains known as monsoons sweep through the Indian subcontinent, providing relief from heat, irrigating the country’s farms and replenishing its rivers. However, as global heat increases, the rain is becoming more erratic and intense, creating the conditions for deadly floods.
Hundreds of rain-related deaths have already occurred this year (2025) in the South Asian region, which includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, the Maldives and Nepal.
Climate experts say that the high temperatures and heavy rain are also contributing to the melting of glaciers in the mountainous Himalayan region, causing catastrophic flooding and landslides.
The South Asian region has traditionally had two monsoon seasons. One typically lasts from June to September, with rains moving southwest to northeast. The other, from roughly October to December, moves in the opposite direction. But, with more planet-warming gases in the air, the rain now only loosely follows this pattern. This is because the warmer air can hold more moisture from the Indian Ocean, and that rain then tends to get dumped all at once. It means that the monsoon is punctuated with intense flooding and dry spells, rather than sustained rain throughout.
“We are witnessing a clear climatic shift in monsoon patterns across South Asia,” said a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune and the author of several United Nations climate reports, Roxy Mathew Koll.
Traditionally, people in India and neighbouring countries excitedly awaited the monsoon rains, which would finally mean the end of summer heat. But, attitudes are changing as disasters increase during the rainy seasons.
“The frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events are increasing, often overwhelming drainage infrastructure in urban areas and triggering flash floods,” Koll said.
Higher temperatures and longer periods of drought are also making farming harder in South Asia, climate experts said.
“More than 60% of the people in South Asia are dependent on agriculture, and almost all of them are dependent on monsoon rainfall,” said a climate scientist at the Nepal-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Finu Shreshta.
Heavy rainfall and increasing heat are leading to snow and ice avalanches, rockfalls and other events that can trigger the lakes to breach or overflow, Shreshta said.
Installing early warning systems and building in less risky areas can help reduce damage from heavy rains, climate experts say.
“If you know that a flood is coming, then, people can get to higher ground and there could be a sort of standard early warning system along a river that sends out a siren,” a glaciologist at the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative, Miriam Jackson said, adding that social media and messaging applications can help people spread warnings to those downstream.
Koll said that rapid urbanisation, shrinking floodplains and the loss of natural drainage also exacerbate damage from heavy rains. Koll said that most Government response currently comes after disasters, and that there is a lack of long-term planning.
“In the future monsoon, extreme rains are projected to intensify further, in addition to sporadic water shortages. Hence, we need proactive, long-term strategies that combine science, policy, and community engagement,” he said.
Jackson said that the biggest issue, however, is to try to reduce emissions of planet-heating gases because there are limits to adapting to extreme weather. “If we continue with business as usual, and we have the same kind of emissions, then the world is going to keep on getting warmer and there will be more intense rain and floods. At some point, we could go beyond the limits of adaptation,” she said.
(Associated Press)