On many occasions monsoons have failed leading to droughts, but IMD did not predict them. Why? Our predictions for rainfall during droughts were wrong only in 2002 and 2004. Between 1988 and 2001, our forecast for normal monsoon was qualitatively correct. It is true that we were not correct on …
Once-parched and barren Barmer is turning over a new leaf. About five years ago, Poona Ram, 45, shifted from this desert district of Rajasthan to Gujarat in search of work. He was unable to support his family at a place that could not give him employment. But Poona Ram returned. …
Betel leaves were once dubbed green gold. But farmers do not find betel farming lucrative anymore. Besides low demand, it is the rising input cost, primarily for irrigation, that is discouraging betel farmers. Since it is a tropical plant, growing betel in the subtropic climate of India requires extra care …
A MEGADROUGHT in parts of Africa and Asia about 17,000 years ago led to mass migration of humans and animals. It is regarded as the most severe in the last 50,000 years. Rainfall in this drought-hit region is caused when winds from the northern and southern hemispheres converge ne-ar the …
TWO recent studies have clinched enough empirical data to repudiate any climate change sceptic. For the first time, the studies have pinned down greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for frequent extreme weather events like rainfall and floods. In one study, UK and Switzerland researchers analysed one of the worst floods in …
SEVERAL countries in the Southern Hemisphere experienced their worst floods in decades in the past two months. While intense rainfall for over a month kept parts of Australia inundated for weeks, severe floods and landslides killed hundreds of people in Brazil and Sri Lanka, and affected more than one million. …
If all goes well, Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorological (IITM) will embark on an ambitious, five-year, Monsoon Mission programme. Revealing this during the course of his presentation at the Indian Meteorological Society, Pune chapter
CALL it the fear of technology not proven yet or being plain cautious, but delegates from 193 countries voted to ban geoengineering. The technology aims to change the planet’s climate through manipulation. One example is to install mirrors in space to reflect solar radiation away from earth to reduce global …
MAJOR volcanic eruptions can disrupt rainfall patterns over the Asian monsoon region. A study has shown that big eruptions tend to dry up much of central Asia, but bring more rain to southeast Asian countries like Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar—the opposite of what many climate models predict. Researchers at …
On a brief visit to Pakistan this week I noted that the recent floods have left deep impressions on the country’s policy and political leadership. They spoke about the scale of devastation, human suffering and the massive challenge of rehabilitation. They also noted, interestingly, that in their view there was …
The cold wave in 2009 that led to the shutting down of Eurorail and flight delays in Europe and the US indicates an inverse relationship between technological advancement and vulnerability to natural elements. But Indian policymakers, by and large, hold economic growth and technological advancement as panacea to climate change. …
888.7 cm: total average rainfall till September 22 which is 4 per cent above normal 52.7 cm rain fell between September 16 and September 22 which is 44 per cent above normal16.43 million people were affected by floods1,006 people died102 districts were affected34,931 houses were fully damaged772,676 people are living …
A cloud burst over arid Himalayan town of Leh in Ladakh on August 6, pouring some 250 mm of rain in an hour. The sudden downpour triggered flash floods and mudslides, killing over 180 people and wiping out the old town of Leh and two villages. Weathermen say the high-altitude …
China has tremendous climatic and ecological diversity, so the impacts of climate change on natural and managed systems might likewise be expected to be diverse. Yet so far systematic studies have been rare. Here, the impacts of historical and future climate change on water resources and agriculture in China are …
The quantum of groundwater Andhra Pradesh received earlier from 100,000 borewells is now obtained by drilling 260,000 borewells, said A K Jain, special secretary to the state’s irrigation and command area development department. B Peddiraji, tehsildar of Butchayyapeta in Visakhapatnam district, added there is tremendous pressure on groundwater, with the …
RAIN comes from clouds. But where do clouds come from? Through the process of evaporation and transpiration, water vapour rises higher into the atmosphere, deposits on fine particles, such as dust, air pollution, pollen and bacteria, condenses and forms the cloud. These particles called aerosols act as a seed to …
To examine changes in the wintertime seasonal (December, January and February) temperature and precipitation over the Siachen Glacier, one of the largest glaciers outside the polar region, an analysis of its temperature and precipitation indices is planned. In the present study, temperature and precipitation indices over a period of 23 …
As the country saw drought-like situation in most regions and recorded 22 per cent less than normal rainfall last year, city-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) under the India Meteorological Department has charted out its cloud seeding programme for the rain shadow regions in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka …
The comparative assessment of morphologic runoff and annual silt load from micro-watersheds can help in establishing relationships between these parameters with objectives of controlling runoff, conservation of soil, reduction of reservoir silt load and enhanced groundwater resources in the micro-watersheds. The automated watershed delineation technique using the filled digital elevation …
