Cyclone Biporjoy Live Updates: Over 35,000 People Evacuated

The name of Cyclone Biparjoy was suggested by the country Bangladesh which means disaster. Cyclones are named after following certain guidelines. Cyclone Biparjoy has developed in the Arabian Sea. On Thursday afternoon, the cyclone was located 850 km west of Goa and 900 km southwest of Mumbai. The cyclone is predicted to intensify into a severe storm by 13 June.

On Thursday, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had forecast a storm with wind speed reaching 35-45 kmph along the coast of Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra.

The IMD has not yet predicted any major impact of the cyclone in India and all countries adjoining the Arabian Sea.

But the good thing is that the monsoon can be kept under control a little with this cyclone. IMD has announced the onset of monsoon 8 days later than normal, but it may also slow down slightly towards the north.

If IMD is to be believed then according to them Monsoon is likely to advance into Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and some parts of Northeast states during the next 2 days.

Now let's try to know how Cyclone got the name of Biporjoy and how these names are kept?

The word Biporjoy was suggested by our neighboring country Bangladesh which means 'disaster' in Bengali language. Such cyclones are named after following certain guidelines. Currently worldwide, there are six Regional Special Meteorological Centers (RSMCs) and five Regional Tropical Cyclone Warning Centers (TCWCs) that are mandated to issue advisories as well as name tropical cyclones.

The IMD is one of the six organizations providing storm surge and tropical cyclone advisories to 13 member countries under the Economic and Asia-Pacific (ESCAP) panel, including India, Iran, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Oman, Myanmar, Maldives. The list of 169 cyclone names released by IMD in 2020 was provided by these countries (suggestions from each of the countries)

Some rules and guidelines have to be followed while naming all these cyclones, such as:

• Must be neutral to politics and political figures, religious beliefs, cultures and gender,
• The name should be such that it does not hurt the sentiments of any group of people in the world,
• The name should not be cruel and harsh.

Is it rare for cyclones to develop in the Arabian Sea?

The number of cyclones in the Arabian Sea is less than in the Bay of Bengal, but this is not unusual. June is one of the favorable months for the formation of cyclones in the Arabian Sea.

A cyclone is a low-pressure system that develops over warm water. Higher temperatures mean the existence of low-pressure air, and lower temperatures mean higher-pressure air. This is one of the main reasons why the number of cyclones is more in the Bay of Bengal than in the Arabian Sea.

The reason for the increase in the number of cyclones in the Arabian Sea in recent times is that the Bay of Bengal is a bit warmer and due to climate change, the Arabian Sea coast is also warming. When air warms over warm areas, it tends to rise upward, with low pressure at the surface. And when the air cools in cold places, it starts descending, which increases the pressure on the surface. In a depression or low pressure condition, air is rising and moving in a counterclockwise direction around the low in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. This is because of the Coriolis effect, which is a result of the Earth's rotation on its axis.

As the air rises and cools, the water vapor condenses to form clouds and it becomes more likely to rain. Weather systems over the Bay of Bengal are strongest over the North Indian Ocean region during the peak period of May. Warm oceans present ripe conditions for cyclone strength and development and fuel these systems over water.

The Bay of Bengal has historically been known for tropical cyclones. But in the last few years, there has been a steady increase in the number of cyclones forming in the Arabian Sea. The frequency of extremely severe cyclonic storms has increased significantly in recent years since 1990 over the Arabian Sea, and has remained the same over the Bay of Bengal. A study published in Springer states that between the years 1982 and 2019, a significant increasing trend was observed in the "intensity, frequency, duration and very severe CS" of cyclonic storms over the Arabian Sea.