Getting hot and bothered - all about summer
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As it
has over thousands of years, summer has come around again. As anyone interested
in astronomy will know it happens because the earth’s axis is tilted. In summer
the northern hemisphere is closer to the sun making it warmer. In winters the
exact opposite happens making the southern hemisphere hot. This fortunate tilt is
the engine that causes seasons that and is responsible for the diversity of our
crops and much of life on earth. Not only does the earth change its trajectory
around the sun going from elliptical to circular causing climate change but as
the earth’s axis wobbles like a slow spinning top, the axis of the earth shifts
back and forth changing our climate. In 11,000 years from now Vizag will be
having winter in July and eating mangoes in December!
Historical temperatures
Though
we all know it is going to be bad, we are always surprised by how terrible summer
is when it visits us every year. We all feel that it is the worst summer ever.
But is it? I looked up the average temperature of the period - 18th
to 24th May at 11.30 am, in the last five years. Incidentally the
hottest part of the day seems to be at 11.30 am. I found that the in 2011 and
2012 it was 37°C, in 2013 it was 36.3°C whereas in 2014 it went up to 38°C and
in 2015 it was 38.7°C. But was it warmer before? Yes, in 2002 on May 12th
Vizag’s temperature was recorded as a searing 45°C! This is only part of the story because how we “feel”
is more than just the temperature. It is also about wind and humidity as well.
Weathermen have introduced the concept of “feels like”. So while the
temperature in Vizag was 41°C on May 24th 2015 the “feels like”
temperature was 51° C. Indeed therefore over the past five years the
temperature has been rising.
So, is it really getting hotter?
Global
average temperatures over the ocean and land have increased by around 1°C over
the last 100 years and while it appears small figure it is in fact a huge rise
when we talk of global averages. In fact
climate scientists consider a global average temperature rise beyond 2° to be
catastrophic. As serious as that is, we have a worse local situation developing
in Vizag. Due to the “urban heat island” effect exacerbated by decrease in tree
cover Vizag’s typically “moderate temperature” has begun to rise very quickly.
Trees are one solution
We
don’t have to be environmental scientists to know that trees are best for
combating summer heat yet we recklessly chop them down for constructing
buildings and widening roads. Then Hudhud struck last year and flattened 80% of
our tree-cover; some of our best old trees were lost. Our policy makers have
not yet started treating this problem as a serious life endangering crisis that
must be tackled on a war footing. The law prescribing the planting of two trees
for every one being cut doesn’t really help much because several saplings die
soon after planting. It should be
modified to force the project proponent to plant 10 trees against cutting of
one tree one year in advance. We must also take advantage of available technology,
we spend hundreds of crores to expand and build roads but don’t spend one crore
to buy tree transplanting machines. This innovative contraption can actually
take a big tree out of the ground roots and all and shift it to another
location where it survives and continues to grow. It is used all over Europe. Contractors
that specialize in this activity must be encouraged.
The good thing about summer
Many
of us hate the summer but there is something positive to say about it. The diehard
optimists point out that without summer we would have no mangoes, watermelons and
thatamunjulu that remarkable summer delicacy. Businesses dealing with
air-conditioners, fans and beverages look forward all year to a good summer.
The hotter it is the happier they are. It is also that time when ice cream and
crushed ice “gollas” are delightful summer favorites. As kids we enjoyed
homemade ice cream made of thickened milk and sugar with a few drops of Vanilla
essence, placed in an ice tray and frozen in the refrigerator. Now for many the
best part of summer is that first sip of chilled beer followed by that involuntary
“ahh” sound.
How Vizagites cope
Some
are lucky to have air-conditioning in their homes, cars and offices and the
electricity to run the air-conditioners and the money to pay the whopping
electricity bills. Senior citizens with 10 year US visas go to the US for three
months under the “looking-after-grandkids” scheme. But those who do not have those
luxuries make a beeline to Vizag’s beach road. Here thousands spend the dog
days taking in the relatively cooler sea breeze and playing in the water before
heading home for a long night under the fan. We Vizagites are lucky that we
have less power cuts and good voltage to keep our fans and ACs running. We are also fortunate to have water to cope
with the summer. Take a moment to thank our electricity utility company and
GVMC water department for this.
All things must pass
Old
timers look back and wonder how they coped with this heat some fifty years ago,
when electricity was fickle and before air conditioners became commonplace. If
I recollect it was the time to swim all day, get charred black by the summer
sun, bathe several times, laze under large banyan trees, wear khadi, sleep on
the terrace and curse under our breath. Fortunately summer does end, the sky
turns grey, and soon there is the flash of lightening followed by the big boom
of thunder. The monsoons arrive. The earth drinks deeply and cools down. Some
Vizagites get soaking wet, but no one complains. We have successfully weathered
another summer.
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