CLIMATE CHANGE AND APPLE
Some respite from cold conditions in North as mercury rises
Temperatures rose marginally in parts of North India on Monday
providing some respite from cold wave conditions though fog at several
places affected rail and road traffic.
The lowest minimum temperature recorded in the plains was 4 degrees Celsius at Punjab’s Amritsar.
Sun
shone bright in the national Capital and day temperature rose above
normal. However, Palam area witnessed fog on Monday morning which
brought the visibility down to less than 50 metres.
The minimum
temperature was recorded at 10 degrees Celsius, two notches above the
season’s average, while maximum temperature in Delhi was recorded at
24.6 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal for this time of the
season.
Early morning, the fog disrupted the rail services which
led to delay in the schedule of 45 north-bound trains while 20 others
were rescheduled.
“The skies will be partly cloudy and there is a
possibility of very light rain. Maximum and minimum temperatures are
likely to hover around 24 and 11 degrees Celsius respectively on
Tuesday,” the weatherman said.
Cold wave conditions prevailed in
Punjab and Haryana even as minimum temperatures rose by few notches
above normal in most parts of both States even as dense fog prevailing
at several places also affected rail, road and air traffic in the two
States.
Union Territory Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab
and Haryana, recorded minimum at 8.3 degrees Celsius, two notches above
normal.
Ambala recorded minimum at 9.6 degrees Celsius, three
notches above normal while minimum of Hisar and Karnal were 7.9 degrees
and 7 degrees Celsius respectively.
Narnaul braved cold weather at 9 degrees Celsius, four degrees above normal.
The
night temperature across Kashmir division, except Qazigund, went down
as the weather remained dry, leading to opening of the Srinagar-Jammu
National Highway a day after snowfall led to its closure.
The
National Highway was opened for one-way traffic, an official of the
Traffic Department said, adding however, only light motor vehicles were
allowed to ply on the arterial road, the only all-weather road-link
connecting Kashmir Valley with the rest of the country.
The Meteorological Department (MeT) has forecast rains or snow over five days.
The
night temperature across the Valley dipped on Sunday night with
Srinagar registering a drop of nearly three degrees from the previous
night’s low of minus 1.3 degrees Celsius to settle at a low of minus 4.1
degrees Celsius.
Qazigund,
the gateway town to Kashmir Valley, registered a low of minus 3.6
degrees Celsius, up from Sunday’s minus 4.2 degrees Celsius.
The
famous ski-resort of Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 8.6 degrees,
against Sunday’s minus 6.0 degrees Celsius yesterday. The resort was the
coldest recorded place in the Valley.
Leh town of Ladakh region
was the coldest recorded place in the State as the mercury there settled
at a low of minus 8.7 degrees Celsius, the official said.
Kashmir is currently under the grip of
‘Chillai-Kalan’
considered the harshest period of winter, when the chances of snowfall
are most frequent and maximum and the temperature drops considerably.
Mercury rose slightly in parts of Rajasthan, where the lowest temperature was recorded in Sriganganagar at 4.6 degree Celsius.
Pilani,
Churu and Vanasthali recorded their minimum at 7.8, 8 and 9.2 degrees
Celsius while the night temperature in other areas hovered around 10 to
12 degrees Celsius.
The weather remained dry in the State and similar conditions are likely to prevail during next 24 hours.
People
of Bihar, including Patna, experienced a sunny day and major cities of
the state witnessed an increase in maximum and minimum temperatures by
few notches from normal.
Met officials, however, said Bihar may witness partly cloudy sky after three days.
Patna registered minimum temperature of 11.2 degrees Celsius against Sunday’s 9.1 degrees Celsius.
The State’s lowest minimum temperature was recorded at 7 degrees Celsius at Sabour in Bhagalpur district.
Night
temperatures were below normal in some parts of Assam, Meghalaya, West
Bengal, Odisha, Telangana and Karnataka while they were markedly above
normal in some parts of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh,
Gujarat, Bihar, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
The Weatherman
has predicted that heavy snowfall is likely to occur at a few places in
Jammu and Kashmir and at isolated places in Himachal Pradesh. - PTI
SOURCE:THE HINDU 24 JAN 2017
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/Some-respite-from-cold-conditions-in-North-as-mercury-rises/article17085333.ece
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What mackerel and a volcano can tell us about climate change
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/What-mackerel-and-a-volcano-can-tell-us-about-climate-change/article17083075.ece
Researchers assert that bit of history gives clues about what food security could be like in a world that is fast accepting the reality of global warming
What could an Indonesian volcanic eruption, a 200-year-old climate disaster and a surge in the consumption of mackerel tell us about today’s era of global warming? Quite a bit, researchers say.
A group of scientists and academics with the University of Massachusetts and other institutions made that assessment while conducting research about a long-ago calamity in New England that was caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora half a world away in 1815.
A cooled climate led to deaths of livestock and changed fish patterns in New England, leaving many people dependent on the mackerel, an edible fish that was less affected than many animals. The researchers assert that bit of history gives clues about what food security could be like in the modern era of climate change.
“How we respond to these events is going to be critically important for how we come out of this in the long term,” said Karen Alexander, the lead author of the study and a research fellow in environmental conservation. “We can learn from the past how people dealt with the unanticipated.”
The research group’s findings were published this month in the journal Science Advances. They looked at what the catastrophic Tambora eruption meant for the Gulf of Maine and nearby human food systems.
The Tambora eruption was one of the most powerful in recorded history, and was followed by a short time of climate change specifically, global cooling and severe weather. Its impact on weather, food availability and human and animals deaths worldwide has been studied extensively. The year that followed the eruption, 1816, is often described as the “Year Without a Summer.”
The researchers behind the Science Advances article found that alewives, a fish used for everything from fertilizer to food by 19th-Century New Englanders, did not fare well. But mackerel had better survival rates and became a critical source of protein and jobs, Alexander said.
As crops failed and famine began to spread, the little fish emerged as a staff of life, the report states. It’s a scenario similar to what parts of the developing world are experiencing today as climate change affects food security.
The study states there is a parallel between the need for immediate adaptation after Tambora and the challenges in coping with the climate-driven devastation caused by storms, floods and droughts today. It notes that the loss of food staples due to climate change caused people in the northeastern states to move something seen today in places such as Pakistan and Syria.
“Understanding how adaptive responses to extreme events can trigger unintended consequences may advance long-term planning for in an uncertain future,” the report states.
A group of scientists and academics with the University of Massachusetts and other institutions made that assessment while conducting research about a long-ago calamity in New England that was caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora half a world away in 1815.
A cooled climate led to deaths of livestock and changed fish patterns in New England, leaving many people dependent on the mackerel, an edible fish that was less affected than many animals. The researchers assert that bit of history gives clues about what food security could be like in the modern era of climate change.
“How we respond to these events is going to be critically important for how we come out of this in the long term,” said Karen Alexander, the lead author of the study and a research fellow in environmental conservation. “We can learn from the past how people dealt with the unanticipated.”
The research group’s findings were published this month in the journal Science Advances. They looked at what the catastrophic Tambora eruption meant for the Gulf of Maine and nearby human food systems.
The Tambora eruption was one of the most powerful in recorded history, and was followed by a short time of climate change specifically, global cooling and severe weather. Its impact on weather, food availability and human and animals deaths worldwide has been studied extensively. The year that followed the eruption, 1816, is often described as the “Year Without a Summer.”
The researchers behind the Science Advances article found that alewives, a fish used for everything from fertilizer to food by 19th-Century New Englanders, did not fare well. But mackerel had better survival rates and became a critical source of protein and jobs, Alexander said.
As crops failed and famine began to spread, the little fish emerged as a staff of life, the report states. It’s a scenario similar to what parts of the developing world are experiencing today as climate change affects food security.
The study states there is a parallel between the need for immediate adaptation after Tambora and the challenges in coping with the climate-driven devastation caused by storms, floods and droughts today. It notes that the loss of food staples due to climate change caused people in the northeastern states to move something seen today in places such as Pakistan and Syria.
“Understanding how adaptive responses to extreme events can trigger unintended consequences may advance long-term planning for in an uncertain future,” the report states.
The report illustrates how abrupt
changes in climate can have unexpected consequences long after
conditions moderate, said Andy Pershing, chief scientific officer and
ecosystem modeller for the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland.
“Good stewardship of our natural resources can
help buffer against some climate impacts. Unlike the people in 1815, we
have an idea of what’s coming, and we need to make sure we are
prepared,” he said.
SOURCE: THE HINDU 24 JAN 2017
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/What-mackerel-and-a-volcano-can-tell-us-about-climate-change/article17083075.ece
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