Events and Highlights 2024

We put the ocean in a /shell/ and throw that shell back into the ocean.

At Climate Research Lab we focus on research and development that contributes to the science, monitoring, forecasts, and climate projections for South Asia and the larger Indo-Pacific region. We attempt to translate climate science to facilitate the food, water, and economic security of the region. The lab works on the mechanisms and impacts of climate change on the monsoon, cyclones, heat waves, the marine ecosystem, and human health.

Monsoon and Climate Change over South Asia
Is climate change making monsoons more extreme? | The Stream, Al Jazeera.

Anelise Borges interviews Roxy Mathew Koll on Monsoon and Climate Change in South Asia, 4 October 2024.

 

Changemakers @ Manorama Conclave 2024
Roxy Mathew Koll shared his vision of climate equipped schools and panchayats at the Manorama Conclave 2024 [video].

Roxy Mathew Koll as Changemaker at the Manorama Conclave 2024, Thiruvananthapuram, presenting the vision on climate equipped schools in India

The Manorama Conclave brought together ‘Changemakers’ from different walks of life. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the event. Union Minister Suresh Gopi was the chief guest at the closing session.

Dr. Koll Kerala shared his vision that every school and panchayat in Kerala and India should be climate equipped. “Kerala has schools every 3km. These schools can be climate-equipped. Every school can have a rain gauge and thermometers to measure air temperature. Similarly, schools may run on solar power and also have rain-harvesting/groundwater recharging facilities. That way, students will be not only climate aware but also climate equipped. And their data will be part of the monitoring network.”

The National Science Award
The President of India, Droupadi Murmu, presents the first Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar in Earth Science to Roxy Mathew Koll at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Delhi, on August 22nd, 2024.

The President of India, Droupadi Murmu, presents the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar in Earth Science to Roxy Mathew Koll at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Delhi

The Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar is the highest recognition in the field of science, technology and innovation in India. Dr. Koll received the award for his breakthrough contributions to monitoring, modeling, and predicting the Indian Ocean-monsoon climate and extreme weather events.

Hindustan Times highlights the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar, the Bhatnagar award to Roxy Mathew Koll

Hindustan Times highlights the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar — Vigyan Yuva Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award [pdf].

The Print interviews Koll on the first National Science Award in the Earth Science category.

How India can tackle its climate challenges
As India’s climate landscape evolves rapidly, often outpacing our research and development efforts, it raises critical questions—how has this landscape shifted, and what steps can we take to address the grave challenges that accompany it? Read my Op-Ed in Hindustan Times that tells why “a local early warning mission is as important to the Earth’s future as any space mission” [PDF].

How India can tackle its climate challenges. Op-Ed in Hindustan Times by Roxy Mathew Koll

The Global Heat Health Information Network
The Management Committee of the Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN), under the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), met during July 22–26, 2024 at Singapore.

United Nations WMO WHO Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN) Management Committee Meeting, Singapore, July 2024

The Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN, we call it gin) is a dynamic community of policymakers, scientists, practitioners, working together for a world where extreme heat is no barrier to lives and livelihoods.

The GHHIN contributed to the United Nations Secretary-General’s call for global action on extreme heat, released on July 25th, 2024.

Future Indian Ocean
How does the future Indian Ocean look like?

The tropical Indian Ocean underwent basin-wide warming during the last 150 years (1871–2020). The warming in the Indian Ocean was strongest during the last seven decades, at a rate of 1.2°C per century. This is dwarfed by the projected warming of 3.8°C per century in the future, if emissions continue at the current rate.

Indian Ocean SST warming from past observations and futute climate projections

Is ocean warming pushing it into a permanent marine heatwave state? What is the extend of the warming, and what are the potential impacts?

In this new article titled ‘Future projections for the tropical Indian Ocean’, we summarize our current understanding of the past and future changes in the physical and biogeochemical state of the Indian Ocean.

Read more and download: Future Indian Ocean

World’s Top 2% Scientists
Dr. Roxy Mathew Koll is among the list of Top 2% Scientists published by Stanford University. Below is the list of scientists from India in Climate Sciences, for the year 2023 (Ioannidis et al. 2024, doi: 10.17632/btchxktzyw.7).

Roxy Mathew Koll is among the list of Top 2% Scientists published by Stanford University. List of scientists from India in Climate Sciences, for 2023.

Heatwave Adaptation
Dr. Roxy Mathew Koll at the National Workshop on Heatwaves, organized by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

Roxy Mathew Koll at the National Workshop on Heatwaves, organized by the National Disaster Management Authority.
Dr. Koll reminded that because of climate change, heatwaves are here to stay and will intensify in the years to come. Based on an identification of regional hotspots from IMD’s maps, he argued for the development of a national heat management framework targeted at heat-prone districts. He also highlighted how  temperatures can fluctuate throughout the day and the need for policymakers to consider steadily warming night-time temperatures because warm nights make recuperation difficult.

Heatwaves over India

Critical Gaps in the Indian Ocean Observing System
The Indian Ocean Observing System collects high resolution ocean and atmospheric data, used for forecasting weather and climate events, such as cyclones, storm surges, rains and floods, heatwaves and droughts.

Roxy Koll at the Green Sustainable Future Conference at KFUPM, Saudi Arabia, talking about the Indian Ocean Observing System and RAMA mooring

Lack of deployment and maintenance of these ocean observation systems during the three years of COVID (2020-2022) resulted in an irrecoverable gap in our climate data and repercussions on our weather forecasts.

Our new paper here, published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, quantify the critical gaps in the Indian Ocean Observing System (IndOOS), their potential impacts on weather and climate services, and provide recommendations for the way forward [pdf].

COVID Impacts Cause Critical Gaps in the Indian Ocean Observing System

Gone with the Heat
“Gone with the Heat”, an embroidered story of coral reef bleaching under marine heatwaves.

Marine heatwaves, extremely warm waters in the ocean, strip off the colorful protective membrane of the corals, bleaching and killing them. As corals die, the marine biodiversity and fishes depending them also disappear, making our oceans an ecological desert.

"Gone with the Heat", an embroidered story of coral reef bleaching under marine heatwaves, at the International Indian Ocean Science Conference 2024, Lombok, Indonesia

Artwork executed by the Kolls and exhibited @ the International Indian Ocean Science Conference 2024, Lombok, Indonesia.

Hawksbill sea turtle, blue sea sponge, kelp, and sea grass, embroidered

Hawksbill turtles are critically endangered sea turtles. They feed on sea sponge, kelp and sea grass.

Hawksbill sea turtle, blue sea sponge, kelp, and sea grass under marine heatwave, embroidered

Marine heatwaves bleach the sponges, wither the kelp and grass — and the sea turtles disappear…

The coral and the marine species in the artwork are from the Indian Ocean region and found in the coral triangle. The artwork is hand embroidery by Juby Aleyas Koll (Sarah) on canvas, along with water color, acrylic, beads, and sand from the Indian Ocean. Each coral and fish species are depicted with different hand embroidery stitches.

Embroidery Stitcches and details used in "Gone with the Heat" artwork

COP28: The Gulf between Climate Commitments and Reality
Op-Ed on COP28 in The Times of India, December 2023 [pdf]

There is a huge “gulf” between IPCC science and the COP28 consensus. Global warming already exceeds 1.2°C and will surpass 1.5°C by 2030 and 2°C by 2050, as the trajectory of emissions and COP28 commitments to curb them are insufficient in restraining the temperature rise.

COP28 came out with a pledge of $792 million for the loss and damage climate fund. The pledged amount is less than 1% of the losses developing countries face every year from global warming, which is at the scale of several trillion dollars.

COP28: The Gulf between Climate Commitments and Reality, Editorial by Roxy Mathew Koll. Times of India News December 2023

International Indian Ocean Expedition
If you use weather forecasts, thank the monitoring systems in the ocean and the research and modeling that support these forecasts …and the people behind them!

Brainstorming on the Future Road Map for the International Indian Ocean Expedition (IIOE2) at INCOIS, Hyderabad

Recently, we conducted a brainstorming on the Future Road Map for the International Indian Ocean Expedition (IIOE2) at the Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad. The 2nd International Indian Ocean Expedition is a major global scientific program engaging the international scientific community in collaborative oceanographic and atmospheric research from coastal environments to the deep sea over the period 2015-2025, revealing new information on the Indian Ocean (i.e. its currents, its influence upon the climate, its marine ecosystems) which is fundamental for future sustainable development and expansion of the Indian Ocean’s blue economy.

Roxy Mathew Koll is the Co-Chair of the Science Theme on “Extreme events and their impacts on ecosystems and human populations” under the Second International Indian Ocean Expedition (IIOE2). Aditi Modi is the Vice-President of the IIOE2 Early Career Scientists Network.

Freshwater on Earth
Freshwater on Earth. How much is available? Can we access it into the future, sustainably? What is the direction of change and what are the drivers?

The Schmidt Futures VIEW Advisory Board is on it. Watch this space for updates!

Schmidt Futures Advisory Board on Earth's Water, at Stanford University

@ Stanford University, California

Indian Ocean Climate @ der Freitag
Indian Ocean is a canary in the coalmine, a marker of things to come on a global scale. Interview with Julia Lauter for the German newspaper der Freitag [pdf] [online version, translate and read].

Julia Lauter interviews Roxy Mathew Koll for the German newspaper der Freitag, November 2023

Monsoon and Marine Heatwaves at the WCRP Conference
How accurately are we monitoring and predicting the monsoon? What are the challenges and opportunities in improving monsoon predictions? What’s the role of climate change and land surface processes on it and how can we use AI/ML to scale up to the potential predictability of the monsoon?

Roxy Koll keynote lecture on the Monsoon at the WCRP Open Science Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, October 2023

Roxy Mathew Koll delivered a keynote talk on ‘Observing and Predicting the South Asian monsoon — Challenges in a Changing Climate’ at the WCRP Open Science Conference 2023, organized by the World Climate Research Programme, at Kigali, Rwanda, on 25 October 2023.

Monsoon Panel at the WCRP Open Science Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, October 2023

The Monsoon Panel

Roxy Koll talks at the WCRP Open Science Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, October 2023

Session on Compound Climate Extremes

Climate Research Lab at the WCRP Open Science Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, October 2023

Climate Research Lab at the WCRP Conference

Aditi Modi presented her research on the impacts of climate change on marine primary productivity in the tropical Indian Ocean, based on satellite observations and Earth system models. Sophia Yacob presented her R&D on a new climate-dengue model using AI/ML. We had a poster on the Meenachil River and Rain Monitoring — the citizen science program in Kerala, supported by Koll Science Foundation and Climate Trends, under the purview of WCRP My Climate Risk Lighthouse Activity.

 

 

Climate Proofing Mumbai
The population of Mumbai, including the city and the suburbs, crossed 20 million around the time when global surface warming hit 1 degree Celsius. By 2050, the population is projected to double—reaching about 40 million. Guess where we will be in terms of global warming? Global mean surface temperatures will cross 2 degrees Celsius by then.

Will Mumbai submerge? Can we climate-proof our coastal cities?

Roxy Mathew Koll at the Mumbai First roundtable meeting with the German Minister of Culture and Media, Claudia Roth, at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Mumbai

Roxy Mathew Koll at the Mumbai First roundtable meeting on climate change with Claudia Roth, the German Minister of Culture and Media, at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Mumbai.

Roxy Mathew Koll at the Mumbai First roundtable meeting with the German Minister of Culture and Media, Claudia Roth, at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Mumbai

Indian Ocean Futures. Policy Document
Indian Ocean is a canary in the coalmine, a marker of things to come on a global scale. Read more in this public policy document Indian Ocean Futures, published by the UWA Public Policy Institute [pdf].

Addressing climate change in the Indian Ocean Region: knowledge, capabilities and networks. Indian Ocean Futures, published by the UWA Public Policy Institute.

Addressing climate change in the Indian Ocean Region: knowledge, capabilities and networks. Pubished in Indian Ocean Futures, by the University of Western Australia.

Cyclones and Climate Change. Interview @ The New Indian Express
Interview with The New Indian Express — Brace for more cyclones as the Arabian Sea heats up, 1 July 2023 [interview].

The New Indian Express Interview with Roxy Mathew Koll on Arabian Sea Cyclones and Climate Change

Heatwaves and Health. Op-Ed @ Hindustan Times
Op-Ed at Hindustan Times — Heatwaves and Health, 22 June 2023 [article].

Heatwaves, human health, and deaths. Editorial by Roxy Mathew Koll in Hindustan Times.

Climate Crisis. Interview @ Hindustan Times
Interview with Hindustan Times — Climate crisis accelerating at faster pace than expected, 5 June 2023 [interview].

Climate crisis accelerating faster than expected. Interview with Roxy Mathew Koll in Hindustan Times.

Heatwaves over India @ Frontline Magazine
Frontline Magazine — Death by Degrees. An analysis of heatwaves over India, 2 June 2023 [article]

Frontline Death By Degrees Heatwaves Cover

Inaugural Address at the G20 Coastal Cities Summit
Climate Proofing Coastal Cities — Challenges and Way Forward. Inaugural address at the G20 Coastal Cities Summit organized by Mumbai First.

For coastal cities like Mumbai, any development can be an opportunity to redesign the city considering present and future climate challenges.

Citizen science network for river and rain monitoring
Meenachil River Rain Campaign in The Hindu newsMedia highlights on the Meenachil river-rain campaign, a citizen science network, with which Roxy Mathew Koll is involved.

  • Nature—How India is battling deadly rain storms as climate change bites [article]
  • The Hindu—Book on rain data from budding weather folk [article]
  • Indian Express—School students do their part in disaster management [article]
  • Mathrubhumi—നാട് നന്നാക്കാൻ തോട് നന്നാക്കാനൊരുങ്ങുന്നു [article]
  • The Hindu—Students lend a hand for running flood alert system [article]
  • Mathrubhumi—ഇവരറിയാതെ മീനച്ചിലാര്‍ നിറയില്ല [article]
Student Guidelines
Here are some student guidelines for you to make the best out of our Climate Research Lab.Group presentations at Climate Research Lab
Climate Research Lab, 2024
Climate Lab, with Mareena Mathew and Fathima Fitha, September 2023