Govt to study climate crisis impacts within states and districts
The earth science ministry will soon start a pan-India study to gauge climate changes within states and districts
To gauge the impact of climate change and behaviour of microclimates within states and districts, the earth sciences ministry will soon start an all India study, officials said, which will help the government understand how temperatures and rainfall recordings have been fluctuating within districts over the years.
The India Meteorological Department has been expanding its network of monitoring stations across the country to enable this study, which is expected to be released by 2027, a ministry official said, seeking anonymity.
“We are expanding our network of monitoring stations which will help us assess recordings on a local level as well. This is the best opportunity to study how temperature and rainfall patterns have been fluctuating within states and even within districts,” he said. “This will help us understand the impact of climate change and also help us assess how microclimates are behaving in a region.”
There have been alterations in weather patterns in various parts of the country in the past few decades, according to M Mohapatra, director general at the weather office. For instance, rainfall activity over parts of the northeast has been declining during the south-west monsoon, while parts of northwest India have seen increased monsoon rains, which has become more intense but with more dry days.
“These changes could be attributed to climate change, but more data collection and studies are required,” Mohapatra said. “Apart from the climate factors, we also see seasonal variations.”
Climate change has made weather forecasting more challenging and forecasting agencies have to update themselves both in terms of technology and human resources to meet these challenges, he added.
The proposed study will help the weather agency better understand fluctuations in smaller areas, ministry officials said. For instance, within Delhi, which in terms of area is much smaller than many states in northwest and central India, there have been significant differences in daily temperature and rainfall recordings. During last summer, when the capital’s base station Safdarjung recorded maximum temperature around 45 degrees Celsius, parts of Najafgarh and Palam touched 48 degrees.
