Drought and floods have been a common sight nowadays . For a long time now , we have attributed this to the famous phenomenon of El Nino.

What is Drought ?

In simple words , a prolonged period of time in which there is substantially low rainfall , as a result of which we will face water shortages .

42% Indian land under drought

In 2019 , a report by NITI Aayog ( policy research body in India ) stated that 42% of Indian land is under drought and almost all the 600 million farmers are facing water crisis .

Why such a crisis ?
One of the reasons is because India is completely dependent on Monsoon , it is the lifeline for the farmers and if it fails , farmers are hit and so are associated sectors . It can also be said that poor water management has led us to this state .

The NITI Aayog says that by 2030 , the demand will rise so much that it will be twice of the available supply.

New study , new insight

Although we are very well aware that Indian climate is monsoonal , we still don't understand it completely . The questions such as -

• Why there was a delay in the rainfall ?
• Why there are breaks in monsoon ( called as Break In Monsoon )

and many more .

The answers for all these was till now linked to the phenomenon of El Nino but now , a new study by researchers at the Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (CAOS), Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) ( Source ) has given us some new insights .

Points to be noted -

• It doesn't de-link the drought with El Nino but said it isn't the only phenomenon affecting the Monsoon .
• It links the droughts with atmospheric disturbance in North Atlantic Ocean .

The Atmospheric currents

• The study says that the atmospheric disturbance in the North Atlantic Ocean gives rise to atmospheric currents that swoop in over the subcontinent ( from East to West direction ) and derail the monsoon .
• That is the reason for breaks in monsoon sometimes, which lead to droughts .
• More than half of the droughts in the past decade in India can be attributed to this , claims the study.

The study is of great importance because it has taken droughts that have occurred in the past decade as a whole whereas till now all the studies focused on individual droughts .

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Every new insight we get from new studies will help us make informed decision and protect the farmers and the whole nation from adverse situations .

Thanks for reading .
Regards ,
Mr.

Posted with STEMGeeks