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Climate change and Indian monsoon- UPSC Daily Important Topic | 5 October 2022

upsc daily important topic

Climate change and Indian monsoon-

✓Monsoon in India has undergone several changes over the years, especially on account of climate change.

✓A shift in the track of monsoon systems, like low pressure and depression travelling south of their position and flash floods are a result of this change.

● Effect of climate change:

✓Intense and frequent extreme unprecedented rainfall over the places which once struggled to record even normal monsoon rains.

✓Threat on food security.

✓The IMD has clearly sighted that 2022 has seen the second highest extreme events since 1902.

● Reasons for rainfall variability:

✓Persistence of intense La Nina conditions,

✓Abnormal warming of East Indian Ocean

✓Negative Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)

✓Southward movement of monsoon depressions and lows

✓Pre-monsoon heating over the Himalayan region

Excess and deficit rainfall

conditions

✓States such as Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and parts of Maharashtra have been recording excess rainfall this season.

✓These changes are believed to continue to propel extreme weather events over the entire South Asian region.

✓Entire South Asia has been reporting a series of extreme weather events.

✓Bangladesh, Pakistan and India have battled severe floods.

✓China is reeling under massive drought conditions.

● Rice production:

✓This year, the monsoon was potentially influenced by La Nina also — the cooler than usual Pacific conditions.

✓It impacted rice production which formed a significant share of more than 50% of total food grain production during this period.

✓Due to southward movement of majors, Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, which account for a third of the country’s total rice production, have been highly deficit.

● Impact of Uneven distribution of rain:

✓Rise to pest attacks and diseases

✓Impact on the quality of the grain

✓Variation in the nutrition value

✓Heat stress and affect on plant physiological processes

✓Spikelet sterility, non-viable pollen and reduced grain quality

✓Drought reduces plant transpiration rates

✓Can cause leaf rolling and drying

✓Reduction in leaf expansion rates and plant biomass

● Conclusion:

✓Research indicates that monsoon became less frequent but more intense in India during the latter half of the 20th century.

✓Scientists and food experts believe that a better rainfall scenario could have helped increase the harvest.

✓However, India’s rice producers and consumers are being affected negatively with these unprecedented changes which are also raising concerns over food security.

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