Jammu and Kashmir - Climate
Kashmir, which once earned the sobriquet “Paradise on Earth" from the Persian poet Amir-e-Khusru Dehluvi, is at the crossroads of an environmental crisis. While the focus has been on tackling insurgency and bringing political stability in Kashmir, environmental issues are taking a toll.
Jammu, Kashmir and ladakh is blessed with all the four seasons.It has a typical European climate that can widely be categorized into four seasons. Summers - March to August - are hot and temperatures can touch a soaring level to 45°C. Good item for sightseeing and taking the holy Amarnath pilgrimage. However the Hill stations around Jammu are very pleasant and a favourite of locals to escape from the Heat. Most of the tourists are visiting Ladakh during the months June to September because the weather is pleasant and stable also, few monastic festivals take place. An ideal time for planning trekking or expedition. Just like rest of Indian Jammu also receives a brief spell of Monsoon, which typically start around July 15 onwards are remain till August. The area receives good amount of rainfall and Jammu regions experiences a very high humidity levels of around 70-90%.
The most awaited season in Kashmir, Autumn sets in the month of September. It is autumn, the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. Everything turns to gold. The sight of the landscape has a magnetic appeal then. The red carpeted gardens are a treat to the eyes. Temperatures rises in the morning but the nights are relatively colder. The weather is very conducive for the tourists to take delight in the sights, sounds and smell of this idyllic land. There is minimal to no autumn season in ladakh. Temperature drops drastically after September.Autumn are more like a fresh breeze after a long days walk.
Winter in Kashmir is a five months season but the real winter is experienced in the forty days of Chilai kalan, starting from December 21 to January 31, and if it snows in these forty days, the experiences get worst.Winter starts in the month of December and it is extremely cold then. The whole valley comes alive in Spring time - March to ending April - with velvety green grasses, mustard field in full bloom and blossoms after blossom of almond, cherry, apple, peach, pears, pansies, narcissi, daises and a million grass flowers carpet the ground. The spring time is quite brief in Jammu typically starting in February to March. The overall temperatures start rising and fresh leaves and shoots start appearing on trees.
India is the fifth most vulnerable of 181 countries to the effects of climate change, with its poorest being the most at risk, according to a report Global Climate Risk Index 2020 prepared by Bonn-based think-tank Germanwatch on December 4, 2019. Jammu and Kashmir is the 2nd most vulnerable territory after Assam in India to the effect of climate change. The agrarian economy and eco-sensitive environment make it more vulnerable to slight climate change.
Climate change over mountainous basins necessitates thorough understanding of present and future temperature and precipitation regimes for better water resource management, cryospheric resources, hydropower generation, natural hazard risk assessment, and ecosystem response. Global and regional climate models (GCMs/RCMs) do not represent valley/ridge scale interactions well. There are inherent model biases due to coarser reorientation of model forcings.
The state of Jammu and Kashmir has also been presumed to suffer the consequences of global climate change. The state is expected to have a surge in the number of rainy days by 2030. Similarly, annual temperature is likely to increase in the next century compared to the base period of 197010 An increasing trend in annual maximum and minimum temperature as well as precipitation has also been predicted for the region under SRES A2 Scenario.
Drought and rising temperatures have serious implications for the entire region, with impacts on millions of people in Pakistan who rely on Kashmir for water. About 75 to 80 percent of water flows to Pakistan as melt from the Himalayan glaciers. As rivers dry up, transboundary water sharing between India and Pakistan will come under severe strain – a situation likely to occur in other parts of the world as well. As a result of rising temperatures, in Kashmir, since around 1990, hundreds of natural springs and streams have dried up, prompting people to encroach floodplains. Many areas have witnessed a complete disappearance of small glaciers as the snowfall period gradually shifted from December-January to February-March.
The temperature across the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir state shows an increasing trend and it increases at a rate of 0.3° to 0.6°C per decade. A similar trend was reported in 2010 for the Kashmir region where temperature increases 0.4° to 0.5°C per decade. Other Climate Scientists in 2007, based upon three stations (Srinagar, Leh, and Shimla), reported a significant rise in air temperature by 1.6°C during the last century in the northwest Himalayan region with winter increase at a faster rate. According to the advocacy group ActionAid’s 2007 report on climate change in Kashmir, average temperatures in the region have shown a rise of 1.45°C., while in the Jammu region, the rise is 2.32°C. A report prepared for the state’s department of ecology, environment and remote sensing in 2013 claimed average temperatures in the Kashmir valley had risen 1.45 degrees Celsius over two decades.
Agriculture production has always been at the mercy of unpredictable weather, but a rapidly changing climate is making agriculture production an even more vulnerable enterprise. With changes in rainfall patterns, farmers face dual threats from flooding and drought. Both extremes can destroy food crops. Flooding washes away fertile topsoil that farmers depend on for productivity, while droughts dry it out, making it more easily blown or washed away. Higher temperatures increase crops’ water needs, making them even more vulnerable during dry periods. Wheat, maize and rice crops grown in about 250,000 hectares, 210,000 hectares and 110,000 hectares respectively are the major cereal crops of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) division. Basmati rice and rajmash (pulses) are valuable cash crops of the Jammu region.
Climate experts have predicted additional extreme weather conditions in the valley in future, such as excessive rain, colder summers, rising winter temperatures, increasing hailstorms and cloudbursts. For Kashmir’s horticulture industry, which provides livelihoods to some 30 percent of the state’s population, freakish weather conditions will likely bring further losses. Fruit growers expect a decline in growth and size of fruit and also damage to the trees.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
