Chilai Kalan – the harshest part of winter in Kashmir has arrived and the climate has seen no significant change. There has been no downpour from past six months and we are experiencing a severe drought. This has been the longest drought from past 30 years.
The snowfall that brought joy on the faces of people in the cold days of chilai kalan has shown no signs of appearance this season. We are also witnessing less tourist inflow all thanks to snowless winters.
We receive rains at unusual times when it is not required as we saw this year during the flowering season that lead to the rotting of the flowers. Sometimes there so much downpour that it leads to the submerging of entire Kashmir, as was experienced when one of the worst natural disasters that ravaged Kashmir in September 2014, leaving many dead and thousands homeless. We also experience less precipitation when it is much needed resulting in the devastation of agriculture sector, thus the worry for farmers and increase in the number of respiratory diseases.
We are witnessing temperature fall in summer months and rising temperature in winter months. Experts have sounded an alarm over the changing climate in Kashmir. If we do not take proper steps to maintain the ecological equilibrium of the environment, it will have terrible results.
Human activities like unplanned urbanization that has increased by 27.21 percent between 2001 to 2011, pollution, uncontrolled deforestation and unsustainable models of development has increased the amount of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere by 40 percent.
These gases absorb heat being radiated from the surface of the earth, and by absorbing this heat the atmosphere slowly warms up. Let us now analyze some of the effects of unusual weather conditions.
The main effect of the climate warming is the melting of glaciers. They are the main source of major water bodies of Kashmir. The glaciers in north-west Himalayas that spread over 1260 sq km have receded significantly.
The main tributaries of Jehlum including Lidder river has about 56 glaciers including Kolhai Glacier that feed the Jehlum rivers in summers have been receding at a faster rate. The fast melting of glaciers can lead to the submerging of vast land. It can also lead to the scarcity of water in summers.
Agricultural sector, that forms the backbone of our GDP will receive a major blow, when the water bodies will dry out and we will have no water to irrigate our crops.
Farmers in most of the rural areas of Kashmir are constantly worried about the weather conditions. Rabi crops in Jammu region have been badly affected by the ongoing drought. The last four-five years, say the farmers, have been exceptionally different in terms of weather conditions. For farmers who grow paddy and maize, the weather is becoming confusing with each passing year.
With almost half of Kashmir’s agricultural farms dependent on rains, farmers wonder why the government is yet to step in with improved irrigation facilities to help them tide over the summer months.
Last year, we have seen a large cloudburst in various parts of Kashmir that caused heavy destruction to the property as well as loss of lives. A cloudburst is an extreme amount of precipitation, sometimes accompanied by hail and thunder that normally lasts no longer than a few minutes but is capable of creating flood conditions.
Although, there used to occur such kind of incidents in the past years, but they were very rare and were mostly restricted to hilly areas. The frequent cloudbursts indicate that everything is not right with the ecological balance of our land. These are the results of extreme climatic variations. Experts believe it is the interaction of moist warm monsoon winds and western disturbances that result in creation of low pressure system causing heavy rains.
The ongoing climatic conditions have badly damaged hydropower generation because of the lowering of discharge of the river that directly depend upon the catchment area it covers. Due to less precipitation in the catchment area, the river will receive less discharge and due to the increasing temperature evoprational losses will be more and hence the less power production.
The extreme weather conditions can also lead to the flooding conditions and droughts, thus affecting the hydropower generation. The changing climate may also increase the sediment risk due to the changing of water composition. More sediment in water means that hydropower project suffers greater exposure to turbine erosion.
The weather has also a direct impact on our health. We see a large chunk of population suffering from respiratory diseases these days. The dust and smoke that remains suspended in air that we breathe damages our respiratory system. It is anticipated that there will be an increase in the number of deaths due to greater frequency of extreme weather events.
The elderly, young and those suffering from respiratory and cardiovascular disorders are the most affected by such weather extremes as they have lesser coping capacity. An extreme rise in the temperature will affect people living in the urban areas more than those in the rural areas. This is due to the ‘heat islands’ that develop here owing to the presence of concrete constructions, paved and tarred roads.
Higher temperatures in the cities would lead to an increase in the ground-level concentration of ozone thereby increasing air pollution problems.
It is the duty of every single human in Kashmir to stop the activities that harm the fragile environment of this abode. The government, on the other hand must tighten its noose to curb the activities that disturbs the ecological balance of our state and enact the laws to prevent the fading beauty of this place.
REFERENCE:
January 2, 2017.Climate horror.Rising Kashmir.retrieved from
