Skip to content

Climate

No rising pattern of extreme rainfall in India

by Adrian Bishop 21 Dec 2011
No rising pattern of extreme rainfall in India

The globe shows rainfall values and represents research focused on global climate change while the India map shows the spatial variability of rainfall extremes.

There is no evidence for rising patterns of extreme rainfall across India, researchers claim. But there are indications of greater spatial variability - or the way extreme rainfall varies over the region.

The results of the study, led by Auroop Ganguly and researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee, which are published in the Nature Climate Change journal, contradict previous studies.

The data was obtained by using statistical methods specifically created to model extreme values and to allow for uncertainties.

Auroop Ganguly says, "Our research suggests that one needs to be aware of the different characterizations of extremes and that these characterizations require both interpretability and statistical rigour." In addition to global factors, it is also wise to examine regional and local factors, including deforestation and urbanisation, he adds.

The way the Indian study had been conducted could also be applied to any part of the world and complements physics-based computer modelling of climate and rainfall variability.

Civil engineer Auroop Ganguly, who is now at Northeastern University, Boston, co-authored the report along with Shih-Chieh Kao, also of Oak Ridge, Subimal Ghosh, from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and Debasish Das, of Temple University.

They examined information from 1,803 stations between 1951 and 2003, which were obtained from the India Meteorological Department.

Earlier in the year, Auroop Ganguly and Shih-Chieh Kao published a paper in the Journal of Geophysical Research that examined simulated climate modelling of extreme precipitation and developing measures for decisions about water resources.

They demonstrated that models could be used to provide fairly accurate predictions of precipitation extremes at macro level, they were less effective at a regional and local level, particularly in the tropics.

Shih-Chieh Kao says, "Even as higher resolution models are attempting to get to the stage where spatially explicit insights can be generated, the kind of insights generated from observations in this study can be used as methods for model diagnostics and can help address science gaps."

Researchers from varying disciplines have compiled the paper, Lack of uniform trends but increasing spatial variability in observed Indian rainfall extremes. Subimal Ghosh is a civil engineer and hydro-climate scientist, while Debasish Das is a computer science and data mining graduate student. Shih-Chieh Kao is a statistician who focuses on water availability and flood frequency analysis. Ganguly is an expert in water sustainability, climate extremes and data sciences for complex systems.

The study was financed by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development program, the Department of Science and Technology of India and The National Science Foundation's Expeditions in Computing programme.


Trending Eco-Friendly Clothing

Love My Planet Women's Relaxed Fit Hoodie
Earth
Quick Add
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Love My Planet Women's Relaxed Fit Hoodie
Love My Planet women's eco-friendly relaxed fit hoodieSize Guide Centimeters 8 10 12 14 16 18 Bust 84 88 92 97 103 108 Waist 66 70 75 80 85 91 Hips 91 95 99 104 109 116 Bust: Measure around the fullest part of...
£38.00
£38.00
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Penguins Hate Push-Ups Men's Pullover Hoodie
Earth
Quick Add
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Penguins Hate Push-Ups Men's Pullover Hoodie
Penguins Hate Push-Ups men's eco-friendly pullover HoodieSize Guide Centimeters XS S M L XL XXL Height 171 175 179 183 189 195 Chest 86 93 99 104 116 129 Waist 71 76 81 89 99 112 Chest: Measure all round your chest just below...
£38.00
£38.00
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Lightning Bolt Kids Long Sleeve T-Shirt
Earth
Quick Add
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Notify me
Lightning Bolt Kids Long Sleeve T-Shirt
Lightning Bolt kids eco-friendly long sleeve t-shirtSize Guide Centimeters 3-4yrs 5-6yrs 7-8yrs 9-10yrs 11-12yrs Height 98 112 125 136 147 Chest 60 66 70 75 84 Chest: Measure all around your chest just below your armpits. Height: Your natural height If you fall between...
£18.00
£18.00
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Notify me
Union Jack Tote Bag
Earth
Quick Add
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Union Jack Tote Bag
Union Jack eco-friendly colour tote bagProduct Specification Organic Cotton Tote Bag. Twill Weave (170gsm). 37 x 42 cm (7cm gusset.) Made in India / Designed on the Isle of Wight. Wash Cool, Hang Dry.
£16.00
£16.00
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Prev Post
Next Post

Eco-Friendly Shop

Women's Clothing

Eco-Friendly Clothing for Women Our online shop offers a wide range of sustainable women’s clothing products, including t-shirts, hoodies, vests, sweaters, shorts, and...
Shop Now

Men's Clothing

Eco-Friendly Clothing for Men Our online shop offers a wide range of sustainable men’s clothing products, including t-shirts, hoodies, vests, sweaters, shorts, and...
Shop Now

Kids Clothing

Eco-Friendly Clothes for Kids Our online shop offers a wide range of sustainable kids clothing products, including t-shirts, hoodies and jumpers. Our garments...
Shop Now
Someone recently bought a
[time] ago, from [location]

Thanks for subscribing!

This email has been registered!

Shop the look

Choose Options

Earth Times
Sign up for exclusive updates, new arrivals & insider only discounts

Recently Viewed

Edit Option
Back In Stock Notification
this is just a warning
Login
Shopping Cart
0 items

Before you leave...

Take 20% off your first order

20% off

Enter the code below at checkout to get 20% off your first order

CODESALE20

Continue Shopping