The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has published a brochure titled "Weather Extremes in a Changing Climate: Hindsight on Foresight," which describes extreme events that have occurred between 2001 and 2010. In addition to describing the examples of recent weather extremes, the brochure provides a map of extreme events over the decade and explores whether observed facts a
A SECOND straight poor summer monsoon is unlikely, India Meteorological Department (IMD) chief said ahead of an official forecast for the rains that are crucial to the economy of the world
India would have good summer monsoon this year is the unambiguous forecast statement coming in latest from the Tokyo-based Research Institute for Global Change (RIGC). This is based on the premise that the current El Nino with major warming in the central Pacific would end soon in the following months, says Dr Jing-Jia Luo, Senior Scientist at the RIGC.
Japanese researchers have indicated the possibility of La Nina, the alter ego of monsoon-buster El Nino, to unfold over the equatorial Pacific later this year.
La Nina, which represents shift of warmer sea-surface temperatures to the west equatorial Pacific, has generally coincided with a normal Indian monsoon, though there is no direct cause-effect relationship.
The unusually-heavy rains over Tamil Nadu and other parts of southern peninsula may have been caused by La Nina and the positive phase of southern oscillation (SO), global scale circulation features.
