M’luru citizens facing ’hot summer’ in December.

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru :  It is evident that many parts of the globe are facing  extreme weather events since the past few years, Mangaluru too is keeping up to the trend.

it is more than two weeks that  December is here, yet winter has still not set in along the coast. It may be a little shocking to know that the maximum day temperatures have been above the normal maximum of 32.6 Deg C since November. In fact, the maximum temperatures are competing with normal maximum of April and May which is near 33 Deg C. Even there is no respite at night since minimum temperatures are also above the normal minimum of 21.4 Deg C.

Is this any indicator of climate change affecting Mangaluru? Geeta Agnihotri, Director in-charge, Meteorological Centre, Bengaluru does not answer in the affirmative, but agrees that the onset of winter has been delayed due to continuing rains.  Bengaluru is also two to three degrees more than normal at this time. In fact this is due to extended rainy season in the East. The North-East monsoon is very active this season. So there is delay in the onset of winter.

On the district having deficit monsoon, Director Geeta said the Coastal Karnataka, in fact, had good monsoon according to our records of 122 days. Regarding the hot summer like conditions in Mangaluru city, she said: Mangaluru is an industrial town, so there will be a UHI - urban heat island effect too.

UHI means the area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities, thi s phenomenon was first investigated and described by Luke Howard in the 1810s.

``We need to look into at least four to five years of data to answer the question,’’ said Geeta when asked about whether road concretisation could also have added to this effect of rise in temperature in the city and UHI. Mangaluru has seen rapid concretisation in the last four to five years - from roads to apartments mushrooming in every  nook and corner of the city.

Last year on November 29, the minimum temperature in the city had dropped to 19 Deg C, recording second lowest temperature in the decade. This was four Deg C less than the minimum average recorded for the month of November. Similar temperature was recorded in 2012 on November 15.