India's monsoon rains arrive eight days early, says weather bureau
MUMBAI: Monsoon rains hit the coast of India's southernmost state of Kerala on Saturday, eight days earlier than usual, the weather office said, offering respite from a grueling heat wave while boosting prospects for bumper harvests.
Summer rains, critical for economic growth in Asia's third-largest economy, usually begin to lash Kerala around June 1 before spreading nationwide by mid-July, allowing farmers to plant crops such as rice, corn, cotton, soybeans and sugarcane.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Asharq Al-Awsat
3 days ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Disasters Loom over South Asia with Forecast of Hotter, Wetter Monsoon
Communities across Asia's Himalayan Hindu Kush region face heightened disaster risks this monsoon season with temperatures and rainfall expected to exceed normal levels, experts warned on Thursday. Temperatures are expected to be up to two degrees Celsius hotter than average across the region, with forecasts for above-average rains, according to a monsoon outlook released by Kathmandu-based International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) on Wednesday. "Rising temperatures and more extreme rain raise the risk of water-induced disasters such as floods, landslides, and debris flows, and have longer-term impacts on glaciers, snow reserves, and permafrost," Arun Bhakta Shrestha, a senior adviser at ICIMOD, said in a statement. The summer monsoon, which brings South Asia 70-80 percent of its annual rainfall, is vital for agriculture and therefore for the livelihoods of millions of farmers and for food security in a region that is home to around two billion people. However, it also brings destruction through landslides and floods every year. Melting glaciers add to the volume of water, while unregulated construction in flood-prone areas exacerbates the damage. "What we have seen over the years are also cascading disasters where, for example, heavy rainfall can lead to landslides, and landslides can actually block rivers. We need to be aware about such possibilities," Saswata Sanyal, manager of ICIMOD's Disaster Risk Reduction work, told AFP. Last year's monsoon season brought devastating landslides and floods across South Asia and killed hundreds of people, including more than 300 in Nepal. This year, Nepal has set up a monsoon response command post, led by its National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority. "We are coordinating to stay prepared and to share data and alerts up to the local level for early response. Our security forces are on standby for rescue efforts," said agency spokesman Ram Bahadur KC. Weather-related disasters are common during the monsoon season from June to September but experts say climate change, coupled with urbanization, is increasing their frequency and severity. The UN's World Meteorological Organization said last year that increasingly intense floods and droughts are a "distress signal" of what is to come as climate change makes the planet's water cycle ever more unpredictable.
Asharq Al-Awsat
4 days ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
UK's Sunniest Spring Yields Unusually Sweet Strawberries
British strawberry farmers say this year's record-breaking spring sunshine and warm days have yielded the cream of the crop, with a bigger and sweeter harvest than usual. Long periods of sun and cool nights provided "perfect" conditions for the strawberry harvest, according to James Miller from WB Chambers Farms. The dry and pleasant weather also boosted insect pollination, which further improves the quality and shape of the berries, Miller explained, according to AFP. "They're bigger and sweeter this year than we've seen in previous years," said Miller, the commercial director for one of the country's biggest berry producers. At one farm near Dartford in Kent, southeast England, rows of strawberry plants drooped with the weight of the gleaming red fruit housed in insulating polytunnels. As farmhands made their way meticulously down the semi-circular white tunnels, punnets were filled with ripe strawberries -- some the size of small fists. The weather has resulted in "super berry size and super flavor," said Nick Marston, chairman of British Berry Growers, which represents most of the UK's soft fruit farms. "I've been in the berry industry for 30 years and this is one of the best springs I've ever seen, in terms of both the weather and also the crop," Marston told AFP. This year Britain experienced the warmest spring in terms of mean temperatures since records began in 1884, the Met Office announced this week. It was also the second-sunniest and the driest spring in over a century for England, known for its damp climate. Southeast England received only 30-50 percent of its average spring rainfall, according to the Met Office, raising fears of drought for many farmers. Human-induced climate change is driving longer-lasting, more intense and more frequent droughts, heatwaves and other extreme weather events. To conserve water, the WB Chambers farm in Dartford uses drip irrigation -- which involves water slowly trickling to the roots of the plant through a controlled pipe. "We've reduced our water usage for growing strawberries quite significantly," Miller told AFP. "So I hope we're in a better place than others." According to Marston, British producers have already sold nearly 21,600 tons of strawberries -- 5,000 tons more than by the same time last year, when the country experienced an overcast spring. This is in part due to warmer conditions yielding an earlier crop than usual, with large and juicy strawberries hitting the shelves in April, rather than May. But it is also due to a rise in demand when the sun comes out, said Miller, with consumers hankering for British summer classics like strawberries and cream. "The sun is our biggest salesman in the UK," said Miller. "When the sun picks up, then the demand picks up."
Arab News
4 days ago
- Arab News
Monsoon-loving Indian expats chase rain in UAE desert
SHARJAH: After Muhammed Sajjad moved from India to the United Arab Emirates a decade ago, he missed his native Kerala's monsoon season, so he embarked on an unlikely quest: finding rain in the desert. Using satellite imagery, weather data and other high-tech tools, the amateur meteorologist tracks potential rainfall spots across the desert country and, along with other Indians nostalgic for the monsoon season, chases the clouds in search of rain. 'When I came to UAE in 2015, in August, it... was peak monsoon time' in Kerala, the 35-year-old estate agent told AFP, adding that he had struggled to adjust to the change of climate. 'So I started to search about the rainy condition in UAE and I came to know that there is rain happening in UAE during peak summer,' he said, adding: 'I started to explore the possibility to chase the rain, enjoy the rain.' Each week, he forecasts when and where rain might fall and posts a suggested rendezvous to the 130,000 followers of his 'UAE Weatherman' page on Instagram. He regularly posts footage of his rain expeditions out into the desert, hoping to bring together 'all rain lovers who miss rain.' Last weekend, he headed out into the desert from Sharjah at the head of a convoy of about 100 vehicles. But nothing is certain. The rain 'may happen, it may not happen,' Sajjad said. But when it does, 'it is an amazing moment.' After driving in the desert for hours, the group arrived at the designated spot just as a downpour started. The rain lovers leapt out of their vehicles, their faces beaming as the rain droplets streamed down their cheeks in a rare reminder of home. 'They feel nostalgic,' Sajjad said proudly. Most UAE residents are foreigners, among them some 3.5 million Indians who make up the Gulf country's largest expatriate community. Despite the use of advanced cloud-seeding technology, the UAE has an average yearly rainfall of just 50 to 100 milliliters. Most of it falls during short but intense winter storms. 'While long-term averages remain low, the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events has been increasing and is due to global warming,' said Diana Francis, a climate scientist who teaches at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi. In the summer, the country often gets less than five milliliters of rain, she said, usually falling away from the coastal areas where most of the population lives. So rain-seekers must drive deep into the desert interior to have a chance of success. An Indian expatriate, who gave her name only as Anagha and was on her first expedition into the desert last weekend, said she was 'excited to see the rain.' 'All of my family and friends are enjoying good rain and good climate and we are living here in the hot sun,' she said. The UAE endured its hottest April on record this year. By contrast, April last year saw the UAE's heaviest rains in 75 years, which saw 259.5 mm of rainfall in a single day. Four people died and the commercial hub of Dubai was paralyzed for several days. Scientists of the World Weather Attribution network said the intense rains were 'most likely' exacerbated by global warming. 'We couldn't enjoy it because it was flooded all over UAE,' Anagha said. 'This time we are going to see... rain coming to us in the desert.'
