The weak monsoon activity over so far during the current monsoon season can be attributed to climate variability, said Professor and Head of the Department of Agricultural Meteorology, Kerala Agricultural University, G S L H V Prasada Rao.
Talking to this website's newspaper, Rao said that the climate variability was the short-term phenomenon of the climate change. He said the climate change could be assessed only in the long term. Rao said Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargodu districts had normal rainfall so far this season. However the rainfall between the areas of these two districts is in deficit, the shortfall is varying between 30 and 60 percent.Usually two strong currents which develop during the monsoon season cause rainfall in the country. While one current develops from the Bay of Bengal and the other is from the Arabian Sea, he added.In the normal monsoon years, the current that develops in the Arabian Sea advances faster and causes the rainfall in Kerala before the current originating from the Bay of Bengal advances.This phenomenon results in the commencement of the monsoon season in Kerala before the onset of the monsoon in other parts of the country. However this year, it was the other way round. This was because the current that develops in the Arabian Sea was weak compared to the current developed in the Bay of Bengal owing to monsoon trough oscillations.There is however, no reason for worry. The season has just begun and as per the indications, the monsoon over Kerala is expected to pick up in the next few days, pointed out Rao.He said that in the past two days, the rainfall in Thrissur, Ernakulam and some other southern districts ranged between 20 and 30 mm. It is an indication of the possibility of the monsoon picking up in the coming days and Kerala will receive the normal rainfall this year too, he said.
New Indian Express, June 22, 2008
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