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Changing weather patterns

Changing weather patterns
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The Himalayan region has been witnessing huge changes for many years now and the climate in various states and regions too is having an impact ranging from increased downpour to change in temperatures during summer as well as winter seasons.
What we are witnessing here may be the same change that has already set in motion owing to the wanton use of natural resources that we have resorted to.
According to a latest survey, regions of Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are likely to witness an increase in high temperature over periods of 2030, 2050 and 2085.
The Forest Survey of India (FSI) in collaboration with the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani, Goa has performed a study based on ‘Mapping of Climate Change Hotspots in Indian Forests’.
According to the India State of Forests Report (ISFR) 2021, the collaborative study was carried out with the objective to map climatic hotspots over the forest cover in India, using computer model-based projection of temperature and rainfall data, for the future time periods i.e. year 2030, 2050 and 2085.
The study has observed that Ladakh, Jammu Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are projected to witness high temperature increase, while Andaman and Nicobar Islands, West Bengal, Goa, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are projected to witness the least temperature rise over these periods.
Notably, north-eastern states and Upper Malabar coast of India are projected to experience highest increase in rainfall, whereas, part of north-eastern states like Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, north-western parts of the country namely Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh are projected to experience least increase and sometimes even decline in rainfall.
The regions of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have over the past few years been witnessing many changes in the climate that were otherwise not prevalent here. The average mean temperature has shown a decline during winter and the reverse is witnessed during summers when temperature witnesses an increase.
This is possibly being attributed to the increase in levels of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere which is leading to a steady increase in mean global atmospheric temperatures.
Such rise in temperature is affecting natural phenomena such as precipitation and also impacting ecosystems and essential biological processes which are germane to survival of life on earth, the climate change negatively impacts weather patterns and they have a cascading effect on farming and public health.
Jammu and Kashmir and even Ladakh has been witnessing a depleted snow cover as many of the glaciers that had their presence in the region are reclining and that too at a fast pace.
This phenomenon will have a telling effect on our water reserves and this will have far greater implications on our various sectors including farming, tourism and other activities.
Though the accuracy of the studies is always discussed for their precision in findings but it should sound alarm bells for us so that some conservation methods are adopted to help preserve our environment.


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