Last updated December 4, 2018
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South Asian Monsoon Floods Summer 2017

Bangladesh, India and Nepal

Heavy monsoon rains during the summer of 2017 resulted in "unprecedented flooding"[1] that killed at least 1,288 people and affected over 45 million in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal.[2] All three countries routinely suffer flooding during the June-September monsoon season, but international aid agencies say the situation in 2017 was worse than usual.[3]

The floods of 2017 are consistent with the globally observed rainfall trend that indicates heavy rainfall events are getting heavier (that is, more precipitation is falling now in a given window of time compared to the past). This trend has been firmly attributed to climate change.[2][3][4] 

Trends in central India are consistent with the global trend, according to a paper submitted during the summer of 2017.[4] The study finds rainfall extremes in central India have increased threefold over the last three years and now extend over all of central India, from Gujarat to Odisha.[4]

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