Whether we will have good weather

Today is observed as World Meteorological Day. We think that weather is an insignificant topic, but it is most relevant in shaping future India. And least attention is being given to this by the government. Global warming is affecting our country greatly--glaciers are melting very fast. Rainfall directly determines agricultural output of our county; whether we will have a bumper crop this year depends on weather. And cyclone predictions and warnings are needed to protect lives. And dissemination of weather information by radio, TV and mobiles are now most effective and thus most useful.

Today, there are only 12 centres where data is collected. And at least 55 centres are needed and provisions for this are going to be made by the central government. This is needed for monitoring and collection of data. And prediction of weather comes from analysis of this data. Many trends in climate change have been observed. Now we have more amount of rain than before during raining season; but rains are not distributed during the whole season; its lots of rain on few rainy days. That means we must store our rain water. If lots of rain falls and runs off the land, then we won’t have a good water table level to sustain us through the year.  We must conserve and store water for survival due to this change/trend. In future water wars may ensue when we might ask other countries for water, if we do not conserve now. Our glaciers from where the Ganges rises are melting at a greater pace and they will become dry soon, and then no more water! Then what? Increased use of automobiles and corresponding rise in temperatures will speed up glacier melt down.

Due to global warming, there are frequent thunder storms and cyclones. We can predict cyclones three days before they come and trace its formation seven days in advance.  We can warn our fishermen by radio on rough weather and send sms messages. And already 25,000 individuals are linked to receive such messages. Rainfall can be predicted 48 hours in advance and this is good news for farmers as they can cut their crops in advance and save it from rain. And correct prediction means a greater output.

Forests attract clouds. Deforestation means clouds carrying water will not give rain here and go to forested areas outside India. No rain means no rivers, no agriculture and so on. Conserving forests is the only way to make future India survive in this planet. For the Indian Civilisation to live,we must protect our environment and preserve our forests.