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Monsoon worries.

Relevance

• GS Paper 1 Climate of India.
• GS Paper 3 Impact of monsoon on Indian economy.
• Tags: #upsc #indianmonsoon #climateofindia #dryphasesinmonsoon.

Why in the news?

• Recently, after a wet July that more than made up for its delayed onset in June, the southwest monsoon has entered an extended dry phase.
• The current month has so far seen the country receive nearly 31 per cent below- rainfall. Much of this deficient/sub-par rain has been concentrated in eastern, southern and central India.

El Niño

During El Niño, trade winds weaken. Warm water is pushed back east, toward the west coast of the Americas.

• El Niño means Little Boy in Spanish. South American fishermen first noticed periods of unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean in the 1600s. The full name they used was El Niño de Navidad, because El Niño typically peaks around December.
• El Niño can affect our weather significantly. The warmer waters cause the Pacific jet stream to move south of its neutral position. With this shift, areas in the northern U.S. and Canada are dryer and warmer than usual. But in the U.S. Gulf Coast and Southeast, these periods are wetter than usual and have increased flooding.
• El Niño causes the Pacific jet stream to move south and spread further east. During winter, this leads to wetter conditions than usual in the Southern U.S. and warmer and drier conditions in the North.
• El Niño also has a strong effect on marine life off the Pacific coast. During normal conditions, upwelling brings water from the depths to the surface; this water is cold and nutrient rich. During El Niño, upwelling weakens or stops altogether.
• Without the nutrients from the deep, there are fewer phytoplankton off the coast. This affects fish that eat phytoplankton and, in turn, affects everything that eats fish. The warmer waters can also bring tropical species, like yellowtail and albacore tuna, into areas that are normally too cold.

La Niña

• La Niña means Little Girl in Spanish. La Niña is also sometimes called El Viejo, anti-El Niño, or simply “a cold event.” La Niña has the opposite effect of El Niño. During La Niña events, trade winds are even stronger than usual, pushing more warm water toward Asia. Off the west coast of the Americas, upwelling increases, bringing cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface.
• These cold waters in the Pacific push the jet stream northward. This tends to lead to drought in the southern U.S. and heavy rains and flooding in the Pacific Northwest and Canada. During a La Niña year, winter temperatures are warmer than normal in the South and cooler than normal in the North. La Niña can also lead to a more severe hurricane season.
• La Niña causes the jet stream to move northward and to weaken over the eastern Pacific. During La Niña winters, the South sees warmer and drier conditions than usual. The North and Canada tend to be wetter and colder.
• During La Niña, waters off the Pacific coast are colder and contain more nutrients than usual. This environment supports more marine life and attracts more cold-water species, like squid and salmon, to places like the California coast.

The Impact of Rain Deficit Monsoon

• As more than 40 per cent of the sown area depends on monsoon rain , in the case of rain deficit , it lead to condition of drought and failure of crops
• Overall sowing of kharif crops, barring pulses, has been satisfactory and higher than last year, because of monsoon’s good run from the last week of June through July.
• The current rain deficit in august month has chances to impact wheat, mustard, onion, potato and other crops to be planted in the upcoming rabi season.
• The Central Water Commission’s latest data on water in 146 major reservoirs show these at 78.6 per cent of last year’s and 93.9 per cent of the 10-year-average levels for this time.

El-nino and its spillover effect on crops and vegetables

• With El Niño’s effects beginning to show, there could be pressure on both irrigation reservoirs and groundwater resources that sustain the cultivation of winter-spring crops.
• That may, in turn, make the current food inflation not just transitory and largely limited to vegetables, but persistent and broad-based.

The steps taken by government to control inflation (supply side measures)

• As a result, government has taken course of actions for e.g. Curbing/banning wheat, non-basmati white rice, sugar and onion exports or imposing stocking limits on major pulses  and one can expect more in the coming days.
• However, it can cause long-term damage to India’s image as a reliable global supplier, while undermining the government’s own past reformist record

Conclusion

Therefore, Supply-side management should rely primarily on liberalizing imports. The government should clearly convey that the trade curbs it has imposed will be lifted at the earliest as these are short term measures to control domestic inflation.

Source: The Hindu

Mains Question

Discuss the impact of Al-Nino and La-nina on Indian monsoon. suggest measures to combat the issues of erratic monsoon in India.