Extreme events of rainfall up in Central India in past 50 yrs

Meteorologists have observed a very high rise in the ''extreme events of rainfall'' in the country in the last 50 years, particularly in Central India region in a climate change that can be attributed to global warming.

The finding is noted by the scientists at the city-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) which is engaged in various research projects relating to the monsoon behaviour in the country.

"We feel that the rise in extreme events of rainfall which has almost doubled in the past 50 years in Central India (excluding mountainous region) has a relation with global warming," B N Goswami, Director, IITM said in a talk with PTI.

Referring to the meteorological data available with IITM, he said temperature over the Indian continent and Indian ocean region has risen over over the last 100 years, resulting in an increased moisture in the atmopshere.

Goswami said the rising trends noticed in intensity and frequency of the extreme events were significant and can be attributed to the phenomenon of global warming the world over.
He, however, noted that the total amount of the monsoon rainfall in India had  not increased with the rise of temperature in the past 100 years, adding that the "potential evaporation" had deceased over the country with the weakening of surface winds.
Highlighting the need for accurate projections of the monsoon in view of the climate change scenario, the IITM director said "reliable tools are required for reliable answer to climate change".