Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today. Join today Already a member? Log in Two states along India's eastern coast were preparing to evacuate thousands of people ahead of Cyclone Arnab, which is expected to make landfall on Wednesday. One of the states said it would also close schools in some districts for two days.
Arnab, which formed over the Bay of Bengal before intensifying into a cyclonic storm , is expected to make landfall in Andhra Pradesh state by Wednesday morning, with gusts of as much as 140kmph (87mph), India's weather office said. The cyclone will probably intensify further, it added. The weather system is expected to bring heavy to extremely heavy rainfall to Andhra Pradesh's northern and central coastal districts, and southern regions of neighbouring Odisha.
Andhra Pradesh has called for boats at sea to return ashore and ordered speedy restoration of power in case of disruptions. A senior Andhra Pradesh disaster management official told Reuters on Monday the state government had identified 570,000 people as vulnerable and evacuations would start on Monday evening. Odisha's government announced the closure of schools and colleges in five districts for Tuesday and Wednesday, and said it was preparing to move residents of low-lying areas to cyclone shelters.
The Bay of Bengal is one of the world's major regions for tropical cyclones.
The Independent reports Cyclone Arnab's approach to India's eastern coast, the expected heavy rain and the evacuation plans, with each forecast attributed to officials. It never tells the reader that a warming climate makes intense tropical cyclones and extreme rainfall more likely. It closes by presenting the storm as ordinary regional geography.
Leaves out the climate link
Serious
“The Bay of Bengal is one of the world's”
Why this matters
The Independent ends the article on the line that the Bay of Bengal is one of the world's major regions for tropical cyclones. It explains the storm only by where it formed.
The impression it gives
A reader comes away thinking Cyclone Arnab is a routine product of a cyclone-prone sea, with nothing more to it.
The context
Human-caused warming has made intense tropical cyclones more frequent or more severe (R2). The article has no word on climate or warming anywhere.
How we know
On the recordThat warming has made hot extremes, heavy rainfall, agricultural and ecological drought, fire weather and intense tropical cyclones more frequent or more severe.ipcc.ch (opens in a new tab)
Checked against the whole articleIt never uses the words “climate” and “warming”.
The Independent reports that the storm will bring heavy to extremely heavy rainfall. It says nothing about why such downpours are getting heavier.
The impression it gives
A reader takes the extreme rainfall as weather alone, unconnected to any wider change.
The context
Warming has made heavy rainfall more frequent and more intense (R2). The article never says so, even in one line.
How we know
On the recordThat warming has made hot extremes, heavy rainfall, agricultural and ecological drought, fire weather and intense tropical cyclones more frequent or more severe.ipcc.ch (opens in a new tab)
Checked against the whole articleIt never uses the words “warming”.
The Bay of Bengal is one of the world's major regions for tropical cyclones, and climate change is making intense cyclones and the extreme rainfall they bring more likely.