CHENNAI: Weather forecasting standards in India need drastic improvement to match the West, said A Ramachandran, former director, Centre for Climate Change and Adaptation Research, Anna University, on Wednesday. He warned that the effects of climate change will hit Tamil Nadu hard.
Addressing a gathering on the theme ‘Hotter, Drier, Wetter, Face the Future’, at the Regional Meteorological Centre here, Ramachandran said many interior areas of the State, particularly Tiruppur, Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri, would face prolonged drought. “The intrusion of saline water (sea water) as much as 15km inland from our coastline is also a result of climate change,” he said. The State would witness increasingly erratic rainfall, best seen in the intense downpour in just two days during the North-east monsoon last year, he added. Deputy director general, RMC, Chennai, SB Thampi, said the global average temperature had increased by 0.73 degrees Celsius, an unprecedented event in the last 40 years. “The year 2015 was the hottest ever recorded in the world. Recognising this, the World Meteorological Organisation has chosen the theme for this year,” he said.
To mark the World Meteorological Day, open houses and exhibition were organised in Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam observatories and at the weather radar facility, Chennai Port.
The World Meteorological Day is observed every year on March 23, the day the World Meteorological Organisation was set up in 1950.