No More Monsoons for India?
No word if it’s going to be our problem our our great-great-great-great grandchildren’s problem, but a new study by researchers at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research suggests that human impacts on the environment may eliminate monsoons on the Indian subcontinent. The basic science is that the hot weather creates low-pressure zones over the land, and air rushes in from the high-pressure zones over water to create rain. But use of aerosol and deforestation cause less sunlight to reach the ground, cooling the land temperature, so moist ocean air is no longer carried inland. Even rain delays of just a few days can reportedly affect India’s agriculture.
Well, I guess we’ll see.