ADVERTISEMENT
How Arctic Weather Could Affect Indian Farmers
Meteorologists at Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology are keeping close eye on unfolding weather conditions.
12 May 2018, 10:44 AM IST 
A woman carries harvested mustard crop in a field in Palwal district, Haryana, India, on Thursday, Jan 11, 2018. (Photographer: Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg)
Meteorologists at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune are keeping a close eye on unfolding weather conditions at the Arctic Circle--5,000 km away--for their potential to help forecast, and possibly impact, the Indian monsoon. If this year's data align with their hypothesis, scientists could have one more parameter to use to forecast the Indian summer monsoon. Errors in forecasting the monsoon rains that contribute more than 80 percent of Indian rainfall, and serve as a lifeline for 17 percent of the world’s population, have a particularly devastating effect on India’s farm sector.
This article has been published in arrangement with IndiaSpend.