Warming Sign, Extreme Weather Accelerating Across India - Times Of India

[hatrack]

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As the evidence of global warming mounts and gets harder to ignore, even sceptics admit that things, they are a-changing. "Much as I hate it, I can't but admit to fears that the world that our kids will grow up to will be worse off than what we see today," says R K Pachauri, head of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that he chairs has projected the likelihood of more extreme events such as floods, droughts and heatwaves. And he admits that the cluster of recent events — the record-breaking rains in Mumbai and Chennai, the 27-day-long heatwave in Andhra that left 4,000 dead and the cold spell that gripped the North — fits in with these projections.

Roop Kumar Koli of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, doesn't have any doubts either. "If the frequency of extreme temperatures and rainfall increases, it indicates climate change," he says. Data shows that India's temperature has gone up by 0.5° degree Fahrenheit in the past 100 years. "The rise seems to have accelerated in the past 20 to 30 years."

In fact, an IITM study — 'Indo-UK Collaborative Project on Climate Change Impacts' — has thrown up with some interesting findings. "It showed the mean annual temperature all across India will go up by 2 to 3°F by the end of 21st century. Also, precipitation — that includes rainfall and snow — will intensify. Monsoons will be more severe, while winters will be less cold," says Koli. Changes caused by global warming have already started showing across the world, say experts.

The three warmest years on record have all occurred since 1998; 19 of the warmest 20 since 1980. Back home in Kashmir, an entire season called sonth has disappeared. Darjeeling, where maximum temperatures went up to 14°F, now sees a high of 28°F. Anthurium, a Himalayan plant that grows at 1,220 m, is now found as far north as 2,285 m.

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1372242.cms

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. The earth will let us know when the lease is up..... make no

mistake about it. If we continue to spend trillions on destruction, then destruction is what will be dealt us.