Pre-monsoon scorcher in southern India by Alex Deakin
The climate of India is dominated by the Asian Monsoon – a massive wind system that reverses direction at certain time of the year. December to February sees northeasterly winds bring clear skies and little rain. The arrival of the rains or the ‘burst of the monsoon’ comes with southwesterly winds which develop in late May or early June. The rains haven’t begun yet but are forecast to arrive on time and be ‘normal’ in terms of volume.
The rains start in the southwest of India and can be very heavy over the Western Ghats, a steep mountain range just beyond the narrow coastal strip. It takes about six weeks for the rain to reach northern India.
At the moment we are in the transitional phase between the two seasons. This is the time of the year when temperature soar into the 30’s generally with many places likely to hit 40C or more.
Chennai, formerly Madras, lies in the southeastern corner of India. The main rainy season here lasts from October to December and the heaviest bursts of rain tend to be associated with tropical storms in the Bay of Bengal.
In Chennai, the average daily temperature in May is 38C (101F) but has reached 45C (113F) in the past. The last week has seen temperatures hovering around the 41C (106F) mark and The Arinagar Anna Zoological Park in Chennai is home to some 1700 wild animals and over 500 birds. With an already scorching summer, the keepers have been installing a sprinkler system to help keep the animals cool with an hourly spray.
On top of that, all of the animals are now on a special summer diet of cooling fresh fruits such as mangoes and watermelons, succulent water rich vegetables and grasses. Most of the animals already have access to a small pond or stream but electrolytes are also being added to their drinking water to help prevent sunstroke and large areas of the enclosures are being shaded from the intense sunlight.
I suspect that some of the locals would like similar attention from the powers that be.
|
|
