Abstract: Ozone depleting substances were shifting jet streams southward. Now a study by a group of scientists has observed that the southward shifting of air currents has paused or even reversed, heralding atmospheric changes.
The capital of Delhi along with north-western plains of India witnessed heavy showers in the months of February and March 2020. These regions had also witnessed unusually cold months in November-December 2019. The anomaly comes further to light when the overall rainfall figures for the month of March 2020 is seen to be the highest on record. For the country as a whole, cumulative rainfall during this year's pre-monsoon season (up to March 11, 2020) was above long period average (LPA) by 82 per cent. For central India, it was above LPA by as much as 212 per cent (Table-1). This year’s frequent weather disturbances, as seen in February-March 2020 are in continuation of the record breaking chilly weather witnessed in December 2020.
During winter, the atmosphere surrounding the Arctic region astonishingly becomes a storehouse of large concentrations of pollutants. This polluted air mass, almost as large as the African continent, covers the whole of the atmospheric region above the Arctic as well as extend down over Eurasia and North America (Shaw 1995). This ‘accumulation of visibility-reducing aerosols’ in the Arctic is known as the Arctic haze. The term was first used in 1956 by J. Murray Mitchell, a US Air Force officer stationed in Alaska, to describe “the haze encountered during the Ptarmigan (bird) reconnaissance flights” (Raatz 1983).
With the development of a 12 km probabilistic weather forecasting model, an unprecedented improvement in forecasting systems has been made by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune. It is now possible to provide sufficient lead time for exogenous weather at district or sub-district level.
India Meteorological Department (IMD) is issuing the forecast for the southwest monsoon seasonal rainfall (June to September) for the country as a whole in two stages. The first stage forecast is issued in April and the second stage forecast is issued in June. IMD is using state-of-the-art Statistical Ensemble Forecasting system (SEFS) which is critically reviewed and improved regularly through in-house research activities. Since 2012, IMD is also using the dynamical global climate forecasting system...
The Arctic amplification—as it has been termed, is resulting in a perceptible shift of this region to a new environment which is warmer, wetter and more variable than ever before.
September 16 is celebrated as World Ozone Day every year . World Ozone day 2017 is special as it marks the 30th Anniversary of the Montreal Protocol. The UN’s Ozone Secretariat launched into a communication campaign ahead of World Ozone Day 2017. #OzoneHeroes was launched on September 14th in a bid to create awareness of the major achievements of the Montreal Protocol in its efforts to preserve the ozone layer and protect the world’s climate. The UN’s Ozone Secretariat aims to highlight...
In selecting the hottest destinations in India we must keep in mind that India has a largely tropical climate, and feeds somewhat into the warm winds travelling from the equatorial regions and has arid regions in addition to tropical regions. The warm winds from the equatorial regions are due to the Hadley Cell of air circulation that travels until 30 degrees latitude north, keeping these latitudinal regions relatively warm. However, nearby 30 degrees latitude, where India lies, the air tends...
With rainfall still continuing over southeastern Texas, USA, The Guardian reports that flooding due to tropical storm Harvey has claimed at least 35 lives by August 31, 2017. In an unfortunate development, two explosions have taken place at a chemical plant in Crosby, Texas that suffered a power shortage due to the flooding caused by Harvey. The plant run by Arkema manufactures organic peroxides used in the production of plastic and paint products, which can be extremely combustible. With floodwaters...
Cloudbursts in recent times On July 19, 2017, a cloudburst in the Chenab Valley region of Doda district in Jammu and Kashmir led to 8 deaths and 11 people injured (The Hindu, 2017). Many of the casualties occurred due to running debris and silt that flowed through in the Chenab Valley as a result of the night-time cloudburst between July 19Â to the 20. Flash floods hit Thathri town at 2 in the morning. The deaths mostly occurred as most people were asleep during the cloudburst. The Batote-Kishtwar...
