India has been battling spike in extreme weather events from heavy rainfall leading to floods to summers causing heatwaves and currently, to cold winds pushing temperature way down below average normal. Since September and October last year, the country recorded the highest number of cases of extreme weather events during the last five years due to the late withdrawal of the southwest monsoon and higher-than-normal low-pressure systems. Across the world, the frequency and intensity of both heat waves and cold waves have increased in the last few years. It continues to be the coldest winter ever in India in several decades with the mercury plummeting below 6° C in several cities where the level used to be around 10º C. Presently, all indications point to the new forecast of a much colder winter ahead. According to meteorologists, the chilling weather is due to the La Nina weather pattern. The La Nina weather pattern causes frigid winters in the northern hemisphere. It is likely to hound parts of India with extremely cold winters that will lead to a major dip in temperature across north India in January, February 2022. Episodes of La Nina typically last nine to 12 months, but can sometimes last for years. Such events occur every two to seven years, on average, but they don’t occur on a regular schedule. The National Ocean Service says that episodes of La Nina typically last nine to 12 months but can sometimes stretch for years. The last La Nina episode was experienced from August 2020 to April 2021. As per the reports, temperatures have already dropped to sub-zero in some parts of the Himachal Pradesh such as Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur and in nearby north east, Nagaland’s two peaks- Mount Japfü and Mount Saramati- were snow capped during the past days on account of freezing temperatures that hovered below. Experts have raised concerns over the continuous warming of the seas which is leading to an overhaul of the system felt across India. This winter, the national capital Delhi witnessed eight days in January (until January 25) when the maximum temperature remained below 16 degrees, with the lowest maximum temperature recorded at 12.2 degrees Celsius on Tuesday (January 25). Delhi has been witnessing the wettest January in 122 years. The national capital’s monthly rainfall recorded at the Safdarjung (88.2 mm) and Palam (110 mm) stations are already 72 per cent and 99 per cent above normal respectively. Other states and Union Territories with large surpluses of rainfall during this month include Uttarakhand (102.3 mm), Chandigarh (207.7 mm), Himachal Pradesh (170 mm), Jammu and Kashmir (165.8 mm), and Punjab (104.6 mm).Winters in western and northern India have become colder in recent years, which experts say is due to climate change and rapid urbanization. The contribution by the rapid rise in the number of vehicles each year has only compounded the problems of global warming along with rise in refrigerators and air conditioners. Nagaland, like most of the states, need to take a very serious look at pollution of the environment by vehicle emissions. The contributory factors on abnormal weather patterns are varies and many. It is therefore important to make citizens aware of their roles and once this is achieved, perhaps even choice of environmental friendly products would become a necessity.
