QUES . How far do you agree that the behavior of the Indian monsoon has been changing due to humanizing landscapes? Discuss. UPSC 2015 G S MAINS PAPER 1
HINTS:
Humanizing the landscape can be defined as changing the natural landscape architecture as per requirement of human beings like urbanization or industrialization. Due to humanizing landscapes the natural balance has been disturbed. Excessive deforestation, increase in pollution and pollutants, rise of built-up area, global warming, etc. have occurred because of anthropogenic interventions.
All these make disturbances in hydrological cycle of atmosphere either reducing or increasing the rate of evaporation and ultimately cause to change the pattern of Indian Monsoon.
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Increase in the number of condensation nuclei due to increased availability of pollutants and dust particles has led to the urban regions receiving increased rainfall than the rural regions. Particulate matter also affects the trajectory and intensity of monsoons in Asia, and have intensified droughts in South Asia. From rainfall patterns to monsoon intensities, air pollution can significantly affect the water cycle. Particulate matter can reduce the amount of solar radiation that reaches the earth’s surface, affecting the rate at which water evaporates and moves into the atmosphere. They also affect clouds’ formation and water-carrying capacity. Some areas experience more rain than usual, often in concentrated bursts, while others experience less.
Must read: Unpredictability of the South-West Monsoon system in India
Increased built up area has allowed increased heating of the surface. This increased temperature has caused more vapourisation and affected rainfall patterns.
Deforestation has had an adverse impact on monsoon. Agricultural expansion, deforestation have altered the land surface and vegetation cover, which could impact the atmospheric moisture balance and influence the behavior of the monsoon. Deforestation has caused changes in carbon budget impacting rainfalls.
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Increased concretization has lead to increased run off and less water percolation thereby affecting water cycle and disrupting monsoon cycle. Moreover devastation of wetlands in urban areas such as lake or ponds is one of major reason of irregular rain pattern in big cities like Chennai or Srinagar.
The pressure differences which are vital for monsoonal precipitation have been unbalanced and unpredictable. Also high rise buildings have caused variations in local wind patterns and altered precipitation.
Global warming, rise in sea level temperature etc. have made the monsoon erratic and unpredictable. They cause draughts in one region and floods in another. Such extreme whether events have been on the rise primarily due to anthropogenic activities including humanizing landscapes.
Indian monsoon is a complex weather phenomenon influenced by several natural and human factors, there is growing evidence that human activities are changing the monsoon’s behavior. These challenges require a coordinated effort between policymakers, scientists, and local communities to adopt sustainable land-use practices and mitigate the impacts of climate change to protect the Indian monsoon’s stability and predictability.
