The adverse effects of climate change in India and the world are talked about regularly and a new study seems to have further reinforced the previous claims of link between rainfall intensity and increase in climate change.
A study done by the Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA) stated that, as a result of increase in mean surface temperatures and changes in rainfall pattern in India between 1971 and 2005, about 27% of the India’s geographical area has been impacted.
The study further shows a substantial increase in arid regions in Gujarat and a decrease of arid regions in Haryana. Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh have witnessed a shift from being states of medium rainfall to being semi-arid states. States of Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand, and Maharashtra have changed from being high rainfall areas to areas of dry sub-humid weather.
CRIDA’s study also brings issues of a need of a better irrigation system in India to light, especially for regions showing declining rainfall, like Orissa and Chhattisgarh.
Research in the past has proven that the rate of warming in India has increased after 1970, with mean annual temperature rising by 0.21 degrees every decade. This rise in temperatures therefore affects evapotranspiration (loss of water from the soil) and thereby increasing aridity.
The rainfall shifts, known as ‘reorganization’ are to be blamed for causing global weather catastrophes such as droughts, floods and bush fires.
A new report published in the journal Nature Climate Change suggests El Nino events will be more extreme in the coming years throwing off a change in worldwide rainfall patterns.
Amid all the discussions of Climate change, India's first climate change theatre was opened at Pushpa Gujral Science City at Kapurthala, to sensitize people on the subject of Climate Change and Global Warming in India and the world.
Photo by globalgujaratnews.
