Monsoon hope as WMO sees an El Niño counter
The World Meteorological Organisation has predicted that a positive Indian Ocean Dipole could potentially offset the negative impacts of El Niño on India's monsoon season. This development offers hope that the country may avoid a 'deficient' rainfall phase, particularly in the drought-stricken southern peninsula.
Why it matters
The monsoon is critical to India's agricultural output and water security; understanding these climatic patterns is essential for economic planning and food supply management.
NEW DELHI: The risk of overall monsoon rainfall being ‘below normal’ continues to loom over India due to a strengthening El Niño, but World Meteorological Organisation’s (WMO) latest monthly global seasonal climate update, released late Friday night, offered a ray of hope. It predicted the possibility of a “positive” Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), which could offset to an extent the negative impact of El Niño.El Niño is a climatic pattern of warming of surface waters of central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean and is associated with a weak monsoon and harsher summer in India. IOD, on the other hand, has to do with the difference in sea surface temperatures between western and eastern parts of tropical Indian Ocean. It helps in formation of stronger monsoon winds.“A positive IOD is expected to develop...
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