We are into May, and the weather continues to be highly erratic. Sometimes, temperature breaks records, and sometimes gusty winds accompanied by heavy rains send the valley into a tizzy. Even before people shun warm clothes, a sudden spell of rain brings down the temperature, forcing people to stay in winter mode. MeT has forecast partial to general cloudy weather with brief showers from May 13 to 17. Light rain and thundershowers are likely at scattered places on May 18. On the other side, our maximum temperatures continue to stay above normal. In fact, a few days ago, mercury climbed to 31.7 degree Celsius. Climate change is a reality in Jammu and Kashmir. Winters are becoming milder, and summers are getting hotter. Kashmir’s precipitation patterns are also being affected. Seasonal rainfall deficit stands at 26 percent since March 1 in Jammu and Kashmir. Only five of the 20 districts received rainfall in the normal range of 81 per cent to 119 per cent. Jammu and Kashmir is reaping what it sowed all these years. More than half of our lakes have disappeared over the last 59 years. Of the 697 lakes recorded in 1967, 315 have disappeared. Over 200 lakes have reduced in size, losing more than 1,300 hectares of area. Over 518 lakes have recorded a decline in water spread. The rapid depletion of natural resources and degradation of our ecology have started to hit us where it hurts more. The UT is warming at a higher rate than the world average. The average temperature of Jammu and Kashmir has increased by 1.2 degree centigrade in the last 100 years. During the same period, the average temperature of the Earth increased by 0.8 to 0.9-degree centigrade. Jammu and Kashmir is facing a climate emergency. The sooner we realize, the better it will be. It is high time we take steps to reverse the changes or at least arrest the trend. Otherwise, the time is not far away when vast swathes of land will be parched. We are a climate-driven economy. Horticulture and tourism are directly proportional to moderate weather. If we lose this edge, we are bound to be doomed economically. Policymakers, civil society, stakeholders, scientists, and experts need to sit together to find a way out. We can’t sit back and blame nature for the mess. We ought to plant trees, save water bodies, remove encroachments, and preserve natural habitats. We need to safeguard what is left for us. The government should enact stringent laws to make man-made environmental degradation a penal offence. An environmental task force should be set up to monitor our natural resources. Desperate times call for desperate measures. We need to shun blinkers and wake up to reality. Save the environment should be a war cry.
Erratic weather
