Cyclone Fani left a trail of destruction in eastern India but evacuations appear to have saved many lives. The weakened storm is now threatening low-lying Bangladesh.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/D. Sarkar
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Cyclone Fani weakened to a depression as it moved into Bangladesh on Saturday.
It had ripped through India's east coast unleashing torrential rains and gale-force winds as hundreds of thousands of people fled its destructive path.
Local media reported up to 12 fatalities in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, where the "extremely severe" cyclonic storm struck on Friday, while disaster authorities put the death toll at three.
As the storm moved from India's West Bengal state northeast into Bangladesh it was still packing winds of up to 70 kilometers (45 miles) per hour and dumping heavy rain on the low-lying, densely populated country of 165 million people.
In Bangladesh, more than 1.6 million people were evacuated from vulnerable areas to shelters ahead of the storm, which inundated dozens of villages.
In Odisha, some 1.2 million people were evacuated ahead of the storm on Friday. By Saturday, disaster authorities said they were "on a war footing" to remove debris strewn over roads and restore power, phone and other services.
Extensive damage has been reported from the seaside temple town of Puri, which lay directly in Fani's path, and in the state capital, Bhubaneswar.
Indian officials said it would take time to assess the full extent of damage. Communication lines were still cut across the region. Image: Getty Images/AFP/D. Sarkar
Worst disaster scenario avoided
Fani was the strongest storm to slam into India's east coast since a 1999 cyclone in Odisha killed almost 10,000 people.
Despite destroying thousands of homes across the region and leaving behind a trail of destruction, the death toll from the powerful storm was lower than initially feared.
Experts attributed the low number of deaths to improved early forecasting and a massive evacuation operation in Odisha.
The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction praised India for providing early warnings and effective evacuation of people in Odisha that saved many lives.
What happens when ocean temperatures rise?
With oceans heating up much quicker than expected, the consequences might affect everything from weather to coral reefs.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Gierth
Atlantis 2.0
As global warming speeds up, so does the rise in sea levels. While 2004 to 2010 saw oceans rise by about 15 millimeters in total, this value doubled for 2010 to 2016. Tropical regions in the western Pacific are especially affected, threatening many of the coastal areas and low-lying islands with submersion by the end of the century.
Image: picture alliance/Photoshot
Breaking the ice
As ocean and atmospheric temperatures increase, glaciers and ice caps shrink in size. In 2016, the global sea ice extent was 4 million square kilometers (1.54 million square miles) below average. Consequently, more meltwater flows into rivers and oceans, which also causes sea levels to rise.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/U.Mauder
Losing Nemo
Some ocean regions have already warmed by more than 3 degrees Celsius, upsetting marine ecosystems. Seventy-two percent of demersal fish species in the northeast Atlantic Ocean have so far been affected, with warming limiting their abundance and spread. Species that live in tropical ocean waters, like the clownfish, are also experiencing habitat-related population decreases.
Image: imago/OceanPhoto
Coral bleaching
Warming and acidifying waters affect Nemo's navigation senses, and also threaten his home - coral reefs, one of the most sensitive marine ecosystems. A water temperature increase of as much as 3 degrees Celsius can cause the death of corals and the marine animal species that live in them. Northern parts of Great Barrier Reef have seen coral mortality rates of 50 percent.
Image: imago/blickwinkel
Stormy weather
With increased ocean heat, extremely strong tropical storms are set to occur much more frequently. One of these massive storms was Hurricane Matthew, which hit Haiti in October 2016. The Haitian government put the official death toll at 546, and the hurricane also caused $15 billion (13.8 billion euros) in economic losses on the island nation and in the US, Cuba and the Bahamas.
Image: Reuters/NASA/Alexander Gerst
Heads or tails
There is a strong correlation between atmospheric wind patterns and ocean temperatures, meaning warming waters may also cause the jet stream to get stronger. This could affect airplane travel due to intensified head- and tailwinds. On the upside, this means that some flights may be much faster. On the downside, other flights may take longer and could experience more turbulence.
