Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

Perceptible changes in rainfall pattern forecast

TENALI: The imbalance in the quantum of rainfall in different regions will increase in future due to global warming, warns Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Senior Scientist M. Rajeevan. “There will be no change in the average quantum of rainfall in the country.

But, significant changes in rainfall recorded region-wise are likely. Kerala, Chhattisgarh and parts of Karnataka may see a decrease in rainfall, while parts of northern Andhra, Karnataka and Orissa may witness a rise in rainfall,” he told The Hindu on the sidelines of a national seminar on ‘Climate change – its impact on different sectors in India’ held at V.S.R. & N.V.R. College here on Wednesday.A scientist who worked with the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) in Pune for over 25 years, Mr. Rajeevan is considered to be an authority on climate change. He was part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) constituted to evaluate the risk of climate change caused by human activity. He said there would be perceptible changes in the rainfall patterns, with prospects of staggered rains. For instance, if June received good rains, July might see a dull monsoon and if August sees a good monsoon, September might go dry.

The farmers should be educated on these aspects in advance so that they could change their sowing pattern accordingly, he opined. The IMD had done a date analysis on the history of climate change for the past 30 years and had come out with a paper on significant changes, he said.

The most significant changes could be intensity and rise in frequency of tropical cyclones, rise in frequency of low pressure depressions intensifying and turning into cyclones and a rise in maximum temperature across the country. The data revealed that summer temperatures in the country over the past 100 years had showed an increase between 0.6 degree and one degree Celsius.

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