- Saturday, April 27, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
A senior scientist at the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has cautioned that the temperature in Delhi could go up to 33 degree Celsius in a few days time, bringing the focus back on the key issue of climate change, a major environmental threat to south Asia in recent times.
The scientist, Naresh Kumar, told India’s NDTV that the minimum and maximum temperature in north-west and central India will not see much change and there is no forecast of a heat wave in the near term either.
The threshold for heat waves is 40 degree Celsius on the plains and 37 degrees in coastal areas.
Kumar added that the Western Disturbance will remain in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand for two more days, the report added.
The Western Disturbance takes place when warm and moist winds from the Middle East region reaches the north-western Indian subcontinent and changes the direction of the wind, causing winter rain and fall in mercury.
“The temperature in Himachal Pradesh is 7-8 degree Celsius above normal for this time of the year. But it will fall after today. The temperature on the plains is higher because Western Disturbance didn’t reach them,” Kumar was quoted as saying.
The temperature is also likely to rise up to 38 degree Celsius in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh in the coming days, the IMD scientist added.
This year, the onset of summer earlier than expected has given birth to concerns over the weather’s effect on wheat crops.
The Indian government has set up a committee to see the effect of a rise in temperature on the crop, the country’s agriculture secretary, Manoj Ahuja, said, according to NDTV.
