Meet the SG: Pranab Deb on understanding processes that drive high-impact extremes in Antarctica

This month’s Meet the SG blog post features PCAPS SG member, Pranab Deb. Pranab is an Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT) Kharagpur and the founder of the Polar Climate Modelling Group - India’s first research group dedicated entirely to polar climate modelling. His ongoing research on high-impact extremes in Antarctica plays a pivotal role in achieving PCAPS’ objectives of furthering our understanding of dynamic changes in the polar regions and their impacts on communities globally.

Pranab at the residential campus of IIT Kharagpur. Photo credit: S. Jayachandran

With a background in physics, my journey into polar science began in 2008, when I joined a research project funded by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The objective was to develop algorithms to identify Antarctic sea ice using backscattered radiation from the OCEANSAT-2 satellite.

As I dived deeper into the literature, the importance of Antarctica as the backbone of Earth’s climate and sustainability became increasingly evident to me. The pull of Antarctic science was so compelling that I eventually turned down stable government job offers to pursue a PhD in Antarctic science at IIT Kharagpur, stepping into a field that, at the time, was barely explored in India. Climate science efforts here largely revolved around the monsoon, and my choice of polar climate research raised more than a few eyebrows. Fortunately, I had a supportive mentor who encouraged me to follow my curiosity.

Over time, I became acutely aware of Antarctica’s role in global sea-level rise and the far-reaching consequences for coastal societies. Ice loss from Antarctica is now recognised as one of the major contributors to rising sea levels, with cascading societal and environmental impacts that extend far beyond the continent itself. For a country like India, with more than 7,500 km of coastline and roughly a third of its population living near coastal zones, the implications are profound. Globally, about 40% of humanity resides near coastlines, and projections suggest that climate-driven coastal flooding could cost the world economy over $14.2 trillion by 2100 (CNN, 2020). These staggering numbers underscore the urgency of understanding and projecting Antarctica’s response to climate change.

Building a Polar Research Ecosystem in India

My academic journey took me from IIT Kharagpur to the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, UK. Along the way, I gained invaluable skills, met inspiring scientists, and learned how science can bridge nations and disciplines.

In 2019, I returned to India and rejoined my alma mater IIT Kharagpur as an Assistant Professor, where I founded the Polar Climate Modelling Group - India’s first research group dedicated entirely to polar climate modelling. Our group’s research focuses on Antarctic surface melt processes, extreme precipitation and weather events, and tropical-Antarctic teleconnections. Broadly, we aim to understand how large-scale physical drivers shape Antarctic surface climate and extremes. Our research has led to several novel findings, including a new “melt potential” index to study Antarctic surface melting, providing the first evidence linking ENSO and the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) to West Antarctic surface melt, identifying the role of anthropogenic forcing in intensifying extreme precipitation events across Antarctica.

Pranab with the doctoral students at the Polar Climate Lab, CORAL, IIT Kharagpur. Photo credit: Soham Chatterjee

Alignment with PCAPS and Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Our ongoing research naturally aligns with the PCAPS objectives. By studying global teleconnections, and large-scale drivers of melt and precipitation extremes, we contribute to improving event-scale predictability and early-warning capabilities in polar regions. Beyond advancing fundamental science, our work directly supports PCAPS’ sustainability goals - enhancing safety, risk reduction, and resilience in extreme polar environments.

I believe that tackling climate change demands global cooperation and multidisciplinary collaboration. Our research group has been deeply involved in conceptualising and leading international collaborations that bring together climate modelling, atmospheric science, and observational data to deliver cutting-edge science and actionable knowledge - an approach central to PCAPS. These efforts can help stakeholders anticipate, prepare for, and adapt to high-impact weather events in Antarctica. Enhancing our ability to detect and forecast such extremes is not only a scientific pursuit but also vital for safer operations and the sustainable stewardship of the polar environment. 

Equally important, as part of IIT Kharagpur, one of India’s premier institutions and a leading centre for science and technology education, we take great pride in nurturing the next generation of climate scientists and leaders. Teaching and mentoring are integral to my role, and I view them as essential to building and sustaining India’s long-term capacity in climate research. Our group is firmly committed to promoting equality and diversity, ensuring an inclusive environment where all students can thrive and contribute meaningfully. We currently have seven doctoral students working on diverse aspects of polar science, each poised to become a leader in the field in their own right.

Focus on Antarctic Extremes and Their Impacts: Vision for PCAPS

A defining theme of my research is understanding extreme weather events, such as intense precipitation, rapid warming, and surface melt episodes, and their cascading impacts on ice-shelf stability and sea ice, both of which are critical for Antarctic field operations. I view PCAPS as a transformative opportunity to bridge fundamental polar climate research with real-world applications, particularly in forecasting and assessing the impacts of extreme events. 

Looking ahead, I am working to establish a dedicated task team focused on Antarctic extreme events and their impacts. The team’s objective is to investigate how phenomena such as heatwaves, atmospheric rivers, rapid sea-ice loss, and marine heatwaves influence the stability of ice shelves, sea-ice regions, adjacent oceans, and ecosystems. We also aim to examine their remote influences through atmospheric and oceanic teleconnections.

Despite considerable progress in understanding individual events, there remains no coordinated scientific platform to study how these extremes propagate through interconnected cryospheric, oceanic, and ecological systems. Addressing this gap is essential for improving our understanding of Antarctica’s long-term stability and its role in shaping global climate feedbacks.

This proposed task team would:

• Bring together cross-disciplinary research on Antarctic extremes and their impacts.

• Identify critical knowledge gaps requiring urgent attention.

• Provide a platform for new collaborations and proposals.

• Lead to novel scientific insights with broad implications for climate resilience.

In many ways, though Antarctica remains mysterious and challenging, it is Earth’s greatest teacher - remote, vast, and humbling. My work, and that of my colleagues and students, is driven by a shared goal: to understand how the poles connect to the rest of the planet, and to ensure that the knowledge we create helps societies adapt to a changing world.