The heat wave condition in Andhra Pradesh has set in at least three weeks in advance from the normal time, and senior professors at the Department of Meteorology and Oceanography, Andhra University, attribute it to the climate change due to global warming.
The temperature in districts such as Nellore, Krishna, Prakasam, Chittoor, East and West Godavari, has already touched the 45 degree Celsius mark. Places such as Tirupati and Rentachintala have recorded about 45.6 degree C on Monday, and as per the predictions, the heat wave would continue for the next two days, at least.
Even the coastal city of Visakhapatnam has been facing heat wave conditions since Saturday, in this time of the year, said Prof. S.S.V.S. Ramakrishna from the department.
As per the experts, anything beyond 40 degree Celsius or 5 degree over the normal average temperature can be categorised as heat wave and over 7 degrees would be severe heat wave.
According to the experts in the Department of Meteorology and Oceanography, Andhra University, the normal temperature in Visakhapatnam during this part of the year is about 31 degree Celsius and the recorded since Saturday has crossed 35 degree Celsius.
Gap narrowing
The main reason cited is effects of global warming. According to Prof. Ramakrishna, the atmospheric temperature over the ocean surface has increased by about 2 degree Centigrade and the gap between the temperature over the sea surface and land temperature is narrowing with every passing year.
The increase in the temperature over the sea surface will not allow the moisture to be carried to the land side and this will fail the precipitation mechanism and there will be no rains.
Adding to it, the climate shift has already impacted the pre-monsoon thunderstorm activity, former head of the Department and now professor emeritus O.S.R.U. Bhanu Kumar said.
“In the past, thunderstorm activity would kick in from February. There has been drastic reduction in the activity over the last three years and so far in this year, Visakhapatnam or for that matter most parts of the State have not experienced a single thunderstorm activity since February,” he said.
According to Prof. Bhanu Kumar, pre-monsoon thunder shower accounts for about 10 per cent of the total seasonal rainfall.
Thunderstorm activity during peak summer is a source of survival for plants and trees, and any change affects the conversion of carbon dioxide to oxygen in the atmosphere and this impacts the climate, he said.
The heat index is on the rise, greenery is depleting fast, and this has increased the level of the harmful ultra violet rays.
As per a study by Prof. Bhanu Kumar, the UV index has gone up to 11, when the normal is said to be between 5 and 8.
