India’s monsoon has always been a paradox ~ revered as a life-giver yet feared as a destroyer. This year, however, the paradox has deepened into tragedy. Extraordinary downpours have unleashed floods and landslides across half the country, with Punjab facing its worst deluge since the late 1980s. The devastation is not just a quirk of nature but a sign of how monsoon patterns are changing in a warming world. For centuries, the rains were seen as steady and dependable, spread fairly evenly over the four crucial months from June to September. That rhythm is breaking down.

Instead of gradual showers, we now witness bursts of rain compressed into a few hours or days, often following dry spells. These concentrated cloudbursts overwhelm rivers and mountains alike, unleashing floods of a scale that no traditional preparedness can contain. The science behind this transformation is sobering. Warmer oceans are........

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