Raghu Murtugudde

Forests world over are under threat.

Mumbai, July 5 (India Science Wire): On July 2, the Maharashtra government decided to close private and public schools in Mumbai based on IMD’s rainfall forecast which predicted "intermittent rain in city and suburbs, with heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places for the next 24 hours." The 24-hour period from 8:30 am of July 1 to July 2 saw a total of 375 mm of rain and it

It has been reported that extreme rainfall events are increasing over India and widespread floods have increased threefold over the last several decades from an average of two events per year to six events per year. But the link between extreme rainfall events and rising incidence of floods remains tenuous.  

Every time an extreme weather event like the Kerala floods occurs, there is a great demand for information on its causes. The question uppermost in public discourse is if such events can be attributed to climate change and global warming.

A new study has pointed out that increased irrigation efficiency does not translate to more water availability for other uses at the watershed level. The subsidies for increasing irrigation efficiency are intended to increase crop production as well as more return flow from irrigated areas that can be allocated to urban, domestic and industrial uses.

The mountain range that runs along the west coast of peninsular India from Tamil Nadu through Kerala, Karnataka, and Goa to Maharashtra is known as the Western Ghats and is very well known for its majestic beauty. It is also among the top eight biodiversity hotspots in the world.

As the parched Indian subcontinent eagerly awaits the monsoon, all indications are that it will be a normal monsoon, especially since no El Niño is in the offing for 2018. 

In a few weeks from now, the seasonal forecast for the Indian summer monsoon will be announced. Among various parameters that determine the fate of the monsoon is the sea surface temperature, more specifically, the contrast between land and sea temperatures. But what are the parameters that determine sea surface temperatures?

In a few weeks from now, monsoon forecasts will begin. These forecasts are based on calculations made by computer modelling. There have been amazing advances in the modelling of weather and climate. These include the monsoons, El Niño’s, cyclones, the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), winds, currents, and so on. Just as even a new car is not perfect, these models are not perfect.

It rains about 900 mm during a normal monsoon year over India and if we assume that about 80 percent of India is covered by this rain, then the estimated volume of water is well over 200 lakh crore buckets. It comes to two lakh buckets per person. Where does all this water come from?