No rain this Jan too

NEW DELHI: It seems that the Capital is losing on its phenomenon of winter rainfall. After experiencing light rainfall in December, the city failed to receive any shower this January. This hints at a trend as 2006 also recorded only 0.9 mm rainfall in the first month.
Although the mercury swung all the way from 2.6 degrees on January 8 to 24.7 degrees Celsius on January 19 during this winter, no rainfall this month hints at a climate change.Experts say that, though this single month nil rainfall cannot conclude drastic climate change, the trend over years surely hints at seasonal change in the atmosphere and global warming on a larger scale.
Last year, the city saw two days of shower during which a negligible 0.9 mm rain was recorded. This year, traces of rainfall was seen in December. The Capital in 2003 received 38.5 mm rainfall and in 2002, 20.7 mm rainfall was recorded. The normal amount of rain for January is 22.6 mm.
Met department attributes no rainfall this year to the lack of western disturbances, which mainly account for rains during this time of the year. "The western disturbances coming from Pakistan could only reach till J&K, that's why the Capital is experiencing this dry winter season," said a Safdarjung Met official.
Meanwhile, environment experts say that the trend is in accordance with the climate change being witnessed globally. They also claim that the trend hints at more erratic climate conditions the Capital will witness in future.
"One erratic incident can't conclude the climate change conditions in the Capital, but if we look at the trend over the past 20 years, it surely hints at acute climate changes seen over the world. In future also, we might see extreme weather situations like the temperature may drop suddenly and may rise acutely," said Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chairman, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The weather fluctuation without any pattern can be a signal towards worst weather conditions ahead, claim experts.
Said Dr Saumitra Mukherjee, associate professor of environmental sciences, JNU: "Last year, we witnessed erratic monsoon situation in many areas of the country. And this year we have seen a dry winter. This only hints at severe changes the climate is undergoing. We may expect the atmosphere to get warmer by 2012."