Skip to main content

Indian monsoon season impacted by global warming

By 06/11/2012February 16th, 2018No Comments

The monsoon season in India is essential for its agriculture sector. It season lasts from June to September and is vital for the growth of crops which support a population of over one billion people.  New research has warned that global warming may have a negative impact on this weather pattern with monsoon seasons failing regularly.

Researchers at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Potsdam University noted that towards the end of the 21st, and into the 22nd, century, increasing temperatures and a change in strength of the Pacific Walker circulation in spring could cause more frequent changes in monsoon rainfall.  The Walker circulation brings areas of high pressure to the western Indian Ocean but, in years when El Nino occurs,  the monsoon is suppressed.  This could mean a decline in rainfall by 40-70 per cent and would be “extremely detrimental to India’s economy which relies heavily on the monsoon season to bring fresh water to the farmlands, threatening food supplies in the country”, said the researchers.

“Our study points to the possibility of even more severe changes to monsoon rainfall caused by climatic shifts that may take place later this century and beyond,” lead author of the study, Jacob Schewe, said in a statement.