Climate change: March temp 10°C higher in Kashmir; water crisis looms large

Srinagar:  Call it a climate change effect, March temperature has almost been 10 degree higher than previous years.

Experts said the unprecedented rise in March can lead to a water crisis in the coming summer months. 

Further, it has been observed that almost all the landscapes below 3000 meters in Kashmir are currently devoid of snow or hosting isolated snow patches.

“All this indicates towards early spring snowmelt. This might lead to a surge in the water bodies during spring but could be the cause of a major water crisis during the summer months. As a result, it will impact the streamflows required for agricultural purposes,” Senior Assistant Professor, Coordinator, Department of Geoinformatics, University of Kashmir Dr. Irfan Rashid said.

Dr. Anzar Khuroo, Botanist and Senior Assistant Professor at the University of Kashmir said there has been a steady increase in the temperatures in the last ten days. 

“Our water reservoirs are already less in quantity due to less snowfall in winter. With the sudden rise in temperatures this march, the snowmelt in the higher reaches can be accelerated. That will have a relatively earlier surge in the water bodies, however, it can result in a water deficit in July, August, and September,” Dr. Anzar said.

He said everything is eventually linked to water be it your agriculture, wild biodiversity, or forestry.

Dr. Anzar also pointed towards the advanced flowering this spring due to higher temperatures.

“The warmth temperature in March has led to the preponing of flowering by 10 to 15 days. But we cannot say precisely by how much percentage it has increased and its consistency. That is yet to be studied,” he said.

Meanwhile, many regions of India are also facing usually hot march. The sweltering temperatures due to heatwaves can be observed in parts of northwest India, the Konkan coast, central India, and Telangana.

Heatwaves are periods of unusually hot weather that can impact human health adversely. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), a region is classified as witnessing a heatwave when the maximum temperature reaches at least 40º C or more if it is located in the plains, or at 30º C or more in the hills.

It’s worth mentioning that Dr. Paolo Gabrielli, Research Scientist at the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, The Ohio State University gasped at the rise in temperatures seen in the Antarctic region.

“OMG, This is huge! Instead of temperatures being minus-50 or minus-60 degrees (minus-45 or minus-51 Celsius), they’ve been closer to zero or 10 degrees (minus-18 Celsius or –minus 12 Celsius)—but that’s a massive heatwave by Antarctic standards,” he wrote on his timeline.