Summer Festival in Winter, to Highlight Climate Change

Bangalore, capital of the southern Indian state of Karnataka, is a most vaunted IT destination. But it is also known for a relatively mild climate.

But things are changing. Temperatures have been slowly hotting up. Day temperatures are above normal this winter.

A few days ago some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) came together to celebrate Holi, the traditional Indian festival observed during the summer, leaving onlookers perplexed.

The celebration was their way of sending out a warning — if the seasons are shifting, why not festivals? Act before it is too late, such was their message.

"We have initiated a year-long campaign to make citizens aware of their responsibility to curb global warming. We will celebrate other wrongly-timed festivals just to tell the people seasons could change as a result of the relentless emission of greenhouses gases," said Joono Symon, executive creative director of an advertising agency. Greenpeace-India, which is at the forefront of campaigns on the issue, has also joined in.

"Global warming has become a global issue. Several studies show the adverse effects of global warming on cities, especially those located on the coast of India," said Vinuta Gopal, climate and energy campaigner of the Greenpeace.

But meteorologists point to other possible natural factors behind rise in day temperatures.

"During the first week of January, Earth will be in perihelion position. This means the distance between the Sun and Earth will be 147 million km on January 3. During winter, this is the closet possible distance between the two celestial objects. Hence, the city is warmer during the day," said M B Raje Gowda, chief of GKVK weather centre’s agro-meteorology department.

The decreasing distance will also contribute to the gradually increasing length of the day. Since more solar radiation is absorbed, the temperature will go up.

Meantime residents of New Delhi, India’s capital, woke up to the coldest day of the season on New Year on Tuesday with the minimum temperature dipping to 2.6 degree Celsius.

As the sky remained clear overnight, the minimum temperature fell to 2.6 degree Celsius, four points below normal and two points lower than Tuesday's 4.7 degree Celsius.

The weatherman has predicted further fall in the temperature and attributed the fall to cold wave conditions, currently prevailing over Haryana, north Rajasthan and eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh. The maximum was recorded at 20.8 degree Celsius against Monday's 21.5 degree Celsius.

Source-Medindia
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