Bangalore: Get ready for an early and hot summer as scientists predict an El Nino year.
“Some meteorologists across the globe are of the opinion that 2014 could be an El Nino year with temperature in the southern Pacific Ocean rising by 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit. This could also impact the climate in the Indian peninsula with excess rain in some places and drought in other regions,” said Special Director, Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre V.S. Prakash.
Pacific Ocean covers almost 30 per cent of the earth’s surface and any additional energy generated by its warming is enough to tip off an array of weather changes around the world.
“We need to prepare for the worst and on priority conserve water. El Nino can last for a couple of years bringing with it wide scale climate changes, which can also adversely affect a country’s economy. In 1997-98 the El Nino incurred a massive loss of $25 billion to the American economy,” he said, while adding that the local impact of El Nino is yet to be ascertained.
Dr Prakash however, cautioned that in parts of Karnataka temperature between January and March may go up by .5 degree Celsius as a result of global warming and three consecutive years of drought.
“The average maximum temperature in Bangalore urban district in January is 27.6 degrees Celsius and minimum is 15.3 degrees Celsius but for the last three years the average maximum temperature has been above 32.2 degrees Celsius. The highest recorded temperature in this month was in 2012 at 35 degrees Celsius,” said Dr Prakash.
“Though Karnataka has the densest weather monitoring system in the world with 2,500 rain gauge stations and 750 weather stations it is too early to ascertain the impact of El Nino in the State. During the last three El Nino years - 1998, 2005 and 2010 Karnataka by and large had a good rainfall pattern, but the temperature aberrations and extreme events data like high intensity rain were not recorded then but now the advanced weather monitoring system will help us to understand the impact of this global phenomenon in the local context,” he added.
The government is planning to add 3,000 weather stations in a year’s time and install eight C band Doppler weather radars.
El Ninos are associated with abnormally dry conditions in South East Asia, Australia and weakening of Indian monsoon.
They also cause extreme rains in parts of North and South America and drought in South Africa.
