Current Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Anomalous Weather Events in Central Himalaya: Real-World Observations and Some Questions


Affiliations
1 Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bengaluru 560 064, India
 

The central sector of the Himalayan province is witnessing inordinately frequent incidences of extreme weather, unending cycles of prolonged droughts and very short spells of excessive rainfall over geographically limited areas, absence of ‘April Showers’ before the onset of summer monsoon, and delayed arrival of the Indian summer monsoon. Are these happenings related to merely the rise in atmospheric and surface temperatures due to global warming, or are they caused by the excess presence of biogenic carbon generated by rampant burning of agricultural residues and wastes, and uncontrolled forest fires? One would also like to know whether the western disturbances and/or the mid-latitude interactions have a role in these distressing developments. The simplistic answer that all these anomalous happenings are ‘the combined effect of global warming enhanced by anthropogenic influences’ is hardly convincing to the laymen who solicit answers to these questions from experts – in a language free from technical jargon.

Keywords

Biogenic Carbon, Cloudbursts, Droughts, Global Warming, Winter Disturbances.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Gadgil, S., Francis, P. A. and Vinayachandran, P. N., Summer monsoon of 2019: Understanding the performance so far and speculating about the rest of the season. Curr. Sci., 2019, 117, 783– 793.

  • Singh, N. et al., Variation in the cloud-based height over central Himalaya during GVAX: Association with the monsoon rainfall. Curr. Sci., 2016, 111, 109–116.

  • Pant, G. B., Kumar, P. P., Revadekar, J. V. and Singh, N., Climate Change in the Himalayas, Springer, Cham, 2018, p. 145.

  • Kaur, S. and Gupta, P. K., Devastating rainstorm of June 2013 in Uttarakhand. Mausam, 2017, 68, 633–642.

  • Joshi, V. and Kumar, K., Extreme rainfall events and associated natural hazards in Alaknanda valley, Indian Himalayan region. J. Met. Sci., 2006, 3, 228–236.

  • Dubey, C. S., Shukla, D. P., Ningreichon, A. S. and Usham, A. L., Orographic control of the Kedarnath disaster. Curr. Sci., 2013, 105, 1474–1476.

  • Banerjee, A., Dimri, A. P. and Kumar, K., Rainfall over the Himalayan foothill region: Present and future. J. Earth System Science, 2020.

  • Valdiya, K. S., Excessive rains and landslides in Main Central Thrust Zone and the wrath of rivers. J. Indian Geol. Congress, 2014, 6, 27–34.

  • Valdiya, K. S., Pal, S. K., Tara Chandra, Bhakuni, S. S. and Upadhyay, R. C., Tectonic and lithological characterization of Himadri (Great Himalaya) between Kali and Yamuna rivers, Central Himalaya. Himalayan Geol., 1999, 20, 1–17.

  • Valdiya, K. S., Reactivation of terrane-defining thrusts in central sector of Himalaya. Curr. Sci., 2001, 81, 1418–1431.

  • Pant, C. C., Pathak, V. and Darmwal, G. S., Seismotectonic investigation in a part of central seismic gap, Uttarakhand. Zeit. Gastroenterol., 2013, 58, 59–79.

  • Chakraborty, A., Nanjundiah, R. S. and Srinivasan, J., Role of Asian and African orography in Indian Summer Monsoon. Geophys. Res. Lett., 2002, 29, 1–4.

  • Valdiya, K. S., Rising Himalaya: Advent and intensification of monsoon. Curr. Sci., 1999, 76, 514–524.

  • Valdiya, K. S. and Sanwal, J., Neotectonism in the Indian Subcontinent: Landscape Evolution, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2017,p. 435.

  • Srinivasan, J., Hottest decade: Early warning or false alarm? Curr. Sci., 2006, 90, 273–274.

  • Kumar, K., Joshi, S. and Joshi, V., Climate variability, vulnerability and coping mechanism in Alaknanda catchment, central Himalaya, India. Ambio, 2008, 37, 286–291.

  • Negi, H. S., Kanda, N., Shekhar, M. S. and Ganju, A., Recent wintertime climate variability over the northwest Himalayan cryosphere. Curr. Sci., 2018, 114, 760–770.

  • Bisht, H., Rani, M., Kumar, K., Sah, S. and Arya, P. C., Retreating rate of Chaturangi Glacier, Garhwal Himalaya, India derived from kinematic GPS survey and satellite data. Curr. Sci., 2019, 116, 204–311.

  • Govindh Raj, K. B., Vinod Kumar, K., Mishra, R. and Mukhar, M. A., Remote sensing based assessment of glacial lakes growth in Milam Glacier, Goriganga basin, Kumaun Himalaya. J. Geol. Soc. India, 2014, 83, 385–392.

  • Mehta, M., Dhobal, D. P., Kesarwani, K., Pratap, B., Kumar, A. and Verma, A., Monitoring of glacier changes and response time in Chorabari Glacier, India. Curr. Sci., 2014, 107, 281–289.

  • Bandyopadhyay, D., Singh, G. and Birajdar, F., Remote sensing analysis of changes in Chorabari Glacier, Central Himalaya, India. Curr. Sci., 2018, 114, 771–782.

  • Maurer, J. M., Columbia University, USA.

  • Sengupta, The Times of India, 21 June 2019.

  • Bahuguna, I. M. et al., Are the Himalayan glaciers retreating? Curr. Sci., 2014, 106, 1008–1013.

  • The Hindu, 12 April 2012.

  • Nature Geoscience, The Hindu, 12 April 2012.

  • Rathore, B. P. et al., Trends of snow cover in western and westcentral Himalayas during 2004–2014. Curr. Sci., 2018, 114, 800– 809.

  • Rana, R. S., Kalia Vaibhav, R., Pathania, R. and Singh, K. K., Managing impacts of extreme weather events on crop productivity in mountain agriculture. Mausam, 2016, 223–232.

  • Jenifer, B. and Ramanathan, V., The Hindu, November 2014.

  • Abdul Haris, A. V., Biswas, S., Chhabra, V., Elanchezian, R. and Bhatt, B. P., Impact of climate change wheat and winter maize over a sub-humid climate enunciation. Curr. Sci., 2013, 104, 206– 214.

  • Gaira, K. S., Rawal, R. S., Rawat, B. and Bhatt, I. D., Impact of climate change on the flowering of Rhododendion arboreum in Himalaya, India. Curr. Sci., 2014, 106, 1735–1738.

  • Rawat, D. S., Uphill journey of plants in the Himalaya. Curr. Sci., 2010, 99, 1644–1645.

  • Kompalli, S. K., Babu, S. S., Bharatan, L. N. and Krishnamoorthy, K., Spring-time enhancement in aerosol burden over a highaltitude location in western trans-Himalaya: results from longterm observations. Curr. Sci., 2016, 111, 117–131.

  • Satheesh, S. K., Atmospheric chemistry and climate. Curr. Sci., 2012, 102, 426–439.

  • Upadhyay, V., Times of India, 23 April 2019.

  • Madhav Haridas, M. K., Rao, P. V. N., Sreenivas Rao, K. and Sudhakar, P., Studies of forest fire induced changes in the atmosphere over Uttarakhand, India, using space-based observations and model simulation. Curr. Sci., 2018, 114, 2504–2512.

  • Srinivasan, J. and Gadgil, S., Asian Brown Cloud – fact and fantasy. Curr. Sci., 2002, 83, 586–592.

  • Ramanathan, V., Crutzon, P. J., Mitra, A. P. and Sikka, D., The Indian Ocean experiment and the Asian Brown cloud. Curr. Sci., 2002, 83, 947–955.

  • Satheesh, S. K. and Srinivasan, J., A method to estimate aerosol radiative forcing from spectral optical depth. J. Atmos. Sci., 2006, 63, 1082–1092.

  • Lelieveld, J. et al., The Indian Ocean experiment: Widespread air pollution from South and Southeast Asia. Science, 2001, 291, 1031–1036.

  • Rosenfeld, D., Suppression of rain and snow by urban and industrial air pollution. Science, 2000, 287, 1793–1796.

  • Andreae, M. O., Rosenfeld, D., Artaxo, P., Costa, A. A., Frank, G. P., Longo, K. M. and Silva-Dias, M. A. F., Science, 2004, 303, 1337–1342.

  • Kulkarni, J. R. et al., The Cloud–Aerosol Interaction and Precipitation Enhancement Experiment (CAIPEEX): overview and preliminary results. Curr. Sci., 2012, 102, 413–425.

  • Rosenfeld, D., Flood or drought: how aerosol affects precipitation? Science, 2008, 321, 1309–1313.

  • Yadav, B. P., Kumar, N. and Lotus, S., Synoptic and climatological aspects of extreme rainfall over western Himalaya towards the end of 2014 SW monsoon season. Mausam, 2017, 68, 597–606.

  • Ray, K., Bhan, S. C. and Bandopadhyay, B. K., The catastrophe over Jammu and Kashmir in September 2014: a meteorological observation analysis. Curr. Sci., 2015, 109, 580–591.

  • Dimri, A. P. and Chevuturi, A., Model sensitivity study for western disturbances over the Himalaya. Metereol. Atmos. Phys., 2013; doi:10.1007/s 00703–013–0302–4.

  • Dimri, A. P., Yasunari, T., Kotlia, B. S., Mohanty, U. C. and Sikka, D. R., Earth Sci. Rev., 2016, 163, 297–322.


Abstract Views: 248

PDF Views: 84




  • Anomalous Weather Events in Central Himalaya: Real-World Observations and Some Questions

Abstract Views: 248  |  PDF Views: 84

Authors

K. S. Valdiya
Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bengaluru 560 064, India

Abstract


The central sector of the Himalayan province is witnessing inordinately frequent incidences of extreme weather, unending cycles of prolonged droughts and very short spells of excessive rainfall over geographically limited areas, absence of ‘April Showers’ before the onset of summer monsoon, and delayed arrival of the Indian summer monsoon. Are these happenings related to merely the rise in atmospheric and surface temperatures due to global warming, or are they caused by the excess presence of biogenic carbon generated by rampant burning of agricultural residues and wastes, and uncontrolled forest fires? One would also like to know whether the western disturbances and/or the mid-latitude interactions have a role in these distressing developments. The simplistic answer that all these anomalous happenings are ‘the combined effect of global warming enhanced by anthropogenic influences’ is hardly convincing to the laymen who solicit answers to these questions from experts – in a language free from technical jargon.

Keywords


Biogenic Carbon, Cloudbursts, Droughts, Global Warming, Winter Disturbances.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv119%2Fi1%2F19-25