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Bengaluru: It was not climate change-triggered heavy rainfall that aggravated the floods in Assam this year, but human factors such as poor flood management (through actions like constructing hard embankments along rivers) and environmental degradation, according to a report released on August 14.

The report, though not peer-reviewed, makes use of peer-reviewed weather attribution methods and has been compiled by scientists affiliated to World Weather Attribution (WWA) – an international collective that studies the probability of climate change in causing extreme weather events. It noted that future adaptation efforts must include floodplain restoration, wetland conservation, and expanded anticipatory disaster risk management using localised early warnings.

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The floods in Assam during June and July this year have been devastating: it has so far claimed around 100 lives, and inundated around 45,000 hectares of cropland. It has displaced tens of thousands as well. As per estimates, the floods may have displaced anywhere from 1.5 lakh to 7 lakh people.    

Many extreme weather events are made more possible today due to human-induced climate change. For example, regions can witness unusually intense rainfall in a short period of time – a feature of climate change. To see whether Assam’s........

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