By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 23 Dec: The global warming is among various other reasons, which has changed weather patterns in Uttarakhand in the past two decades and has increased problems for the farmers in the state. This year, so far up to 50 percent less rainfall has been recorded in the state during the month of December which has not only increased the woes of the farmers but also the common man. This has also led to lesser than normal snowfall in the state. Due to lesser rainfall and snowfall, dry cold conditions are prevailing in the state and this is leading to health complications for many people in the state.
Lesser snowfall is indicating a new change in the weather patterns in the country. As far as Uttarakhand is concerned, the rains as well as the snowfall have reduced considerably in the month of December here leading to dry cold conditions prevailing in the state. The amount of rainfall in the month of December has been less by 50 percent this year. Though snowfall has occurred in areas at altitudes above 3000 meters, in other areas, the impact of rain and snowfall has been seen very less. The biggest impact of such a situation is not only on the common people but also on the farmers. Many temperate fruit crops depend on snowfall and chilling hours for fruit formation. Not only this, one can notice lesser snowfall in tourist areas such as Mussoorie, Nainital and Dhanolti etc which is a huge disappointment for tourists who flock to these places to see snowfall.
According to weather scientists, the effect of global warming is clearly being seen on the seasonal cycle. Not only is the atmosphere getting warmer but the time difference is also becoming visible in the weather and the seasons like the summer, winter and the monsoon are seen coming later than their routine time of the year.
The farmers’ concerns are also increasing due to changing weather patterns. Farmers are also quite worried due to the changing weather conditions and particularly due to the decrease in rain and snowfall in the month of December. The farmers say that last year also wheat cultivation was affected by the weather. Wheat cultivation had deteriorated due to changes in weather due to global warming. It is certain to have an impact on wheat cultivation this year too. Pea farming has also been affected by this. Farming in the hills of Uttarakhand is mostly weather dependent. There are only a few areas where rain deficiency can be overcome through irrigation. In such a situation, the changing cycle of weather is having the biggest impact on the rain fed farming.
