Global Warming, Climate Change and Shifting of Weather – Part I

 

    India and its climate

       In this topic, I will write two articles because of large contents,

                  First article is about the information of India and Indian Climate, which is necessary to understand the depth of the topic

                   Second on impact of Global Warming and Climate change on Shifting Weather Phenomenon.

      Today our world is facing triple planetary crisis of

1.              Climate Change due to Global Warming

2.               Loss of Biodiversity

3.              Environmental Pollution

     This article is about impact of Global Warming & Climate change on Weather Shifting in Indian context, but for this first to understand about Indian Climate.

                                                           India

     India is a Tropical country completely located in Northern Hemisphere and Eastern Hemisphere, which has –

• ·      Latitudinal extension from 8°4'N to 37°6'N
• ·      Longitudinal extension from 68°7'E to 97°25'E
• ·      Tropic of Cancer (23.5° N) passes through Central India in east-west direction.

                Longitudinal and Latitudinal extension of India is roughly 30 degrees, which measured in terms of Km as-

               ·      North to South – 3214 Km

               ·      East to West – 2933 Km

                  This variation of 30 degree longitudinally causes time difference of nearly two hours between eastern most (Arunachal Pradesh) and western most part (Gujrat) of India.

              India is endowed with huge Geographical and cultural diversity.

               

 

           Geographical Diversity-

Ø Himalayas in the north

Ø Northern plain made up of fertile alluvial soil brought by rivers Ganga, Yamuna, Brahmaputra and their tributaries

Ø Thar desert in the West

Ø Peninsular India (or Southern India) characterized by hills and platues

Ø Vast Indian Ocean in the south having –

-        Western branch as Arabian sea in the west of India and

-        Eastern branch as Bay of Bengal in the east of India

Ø Vast coastline of 1500Km stretched from Gujarat (in the west) to West Bengal (in the east)

Ø Island Groups –

-        Andaman & Nicobar Island groups (located in Bay of Bengal)

-        Lakshadweep island groups (located in Arabian sea)

 

              Cultural Diversity –

          In India, there is huge cultural diversity exist as Indian Society is a Multi-religious, Multi-ethnic and Multi-linguistic in nature.

          Indian Culture is not a melting pot, but it is “Bowl of Salad”.

In spite of these huge diversity, India is sovereign, democratic and republic country having “unity in diversity”.

 

                                       Indian Climate           

        Climate of India, although called Monsoon Climate but has many regional variations based on –

-        Topography and Relief of region

-        Pattern of winds

-        Atmospheric factors like Temperature, Pressure and Rainfall

Example- Climate of -

·      Southern India is different from Northern India

·      North-eastern India is different from North-western India

·      Plainer region is different from mountainous and hilly region

·      Coastal region has different from interior part of country.

     Classification of Indian Climate-

           Climate of India is divided mainly 4 seasons during an annual cycle by Indian meteorologist.

             These are as follows –

1.    Winter season – from Nov to Feb

2.    Summer season – from March to May

3.    Onset of Monsoon – from June to mid-September

4.    Retreating Monsson – from mid-September to October

 

     Monsoon-

·      Defined as a “seasonal reversal of wind direction”

·      Indian context, Monsoon is characterized by 2 seasons –

1.    Summer Monsoon or South-west Monsoon

§ Bring rainfall to whole India except Coro Mandal coast of Tamil Nadu

2.    Winter Monsoon or North-east monsoon

§ Bring rainfall at Coro Mandal coast of Tamil Nadu

 

      Western Disturbance-

·      It is a cyclonic depression emerged in Mediterranean Sea (located between Europe and Africa), causing rainfall in the region.

·      During winter (Jan to Feb), this depression reaches to Indian subcontinent with the help of westerly Jet stream, causing rainfall in northern, North-western, North-eastern and central part of India during winter season.

§ Jet Stream is a geo-strophic wind move in upper atmosphere near Tropopause at the altitude (height) of 15 km, one limb of it reside over Indian subcontinent (South of Himalayas) during winter season.

·      This rainfall due to western disturbance prove to be a boon for growing wheat crops and ensure food security of nation.

 

     

Factors determining Indian Climate –

 There are many factors are determined Indian Climate. These are as follows –

Ø Latitudinal and Longitudinal Extension of land of India

Ø Altitude (means Height) – result changes in temperature of plain area and hilly or mountainous area.

Ø Topography or relief structure affect Temperature, pressure and wind pattern of the region

Ø Distance of land from sea –

o Coastal regions have same and pleasant climate throughout the year

o Interior regions have seasonal variations in weather pattern as well as extremes of climate  

Ø Distribution of land and water – India surrounded by Indian ocean from three sides and Himalayas in northern part

Ø Presence of Lofty Himalayas in the north – It protects India from cold and chilly winds blow across eastern and central Asia (north of Himalayas) due to its height.

Ø Presence of Upper atmospheric westerly Jet stream.

Ø Reversal of Monsoon wind Pattern

 

      Presence of huge seasonal diversity of Indian climate provide a unique position to India at Global level, which play a key role in cultural and social diversity of country.

       Socio-economic development of India at individual and national level is highly determined by Indian Climate but due to present crisis of Global Warming and Climate change have created a negative impact on Indian Climate including Global Climate.

   Their impact will be discussed in next article.

 

                                                                       -By Pooja Gupta