It may not be raining but the monsoon season has yet to bid adieu to the city. While mid-September usually heralds the end of rains, climatic changes have resulted in a delay in the end of the season, stated the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).
Weathermen maintain that the withdrawal of the monsoon has yet to begin and is far from commencing. “We expect the withdrawal cycle to start after the end of September,” said VK Rajeev, director, IMD.
Vinuta Gopal, energy and climate change campaigner for Greenpeace, said that global warming is dangerously affecting the rainfall cycle. “Due to global warming, the rainfall has reached a tipping point. It is becoming sudden and more severe. What we expect are more unpredictable dry and wet spells. Changes in weather pattern is causing a delayed departure of the monsoon and is affecting the entire weather cycle.”
Dr Kapil Gupta, a professor at IIT Bombay and an expert onurban climate systems, said that in 2009, the monsoon concluded by September end. “Apart from that, it has been observed that the monsoon period stretches up till the month of October. Climatic changes are modulating the monsoon cycle. High rainfall intensity has been observed in short bursts. In Mumbai, within a span of 24 hours, we saw over 244mm of rainfall. Delhi witnessed 100mm of rainfall in a short span too. Subsequently, a dry spell follows,” Gupta stated.
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