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 - 18^th to 24^th 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 12^th 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 24^th 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.