New Delhi, January 13: Global warming appears to have taken a toll on the climate patterns in Kashmir valley which has been experiencing a decline in snowfall and rise in temperature, weather scientists have found.
Analysing the snow accumulation and ablation patterns in Pir Panjal and Shamshawari regions of the valley during the winters of 2004-05 to 2006-07, scientists have shown that the seasonal snow cover has reduced while the maximum temperature was increasing steadily.
“This decreasing trend in areal extent of snow cover, rise in maximum temperature and decreasing trend in total snowfall may be the indicators of global warming or climate change,” senior scientist HS Negi of DRDO’s Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment, said reporting his findings in the Journal of Earth System Sciences.
The total snowfall in the winter of 2004-05 was 1,082 centimetres across the valley that declined to 968 centimetres in 2005-06 and further to 961 centimetres in 2006-07, Negi and his colleagues found.
February, the second month of maximum snowfall, showed rapid fluctuation with 585 centimetres in 2004-05 compared to 207 centimetres in 2005-06 and 221 centimetres in 2006-07.
The study, validated with 20 years of climate records of the valley, found that higher reaches like Gurez and Machhal recorded more snowfall while lower regions like Banihal and tourist resort Gulmarg witnessed advanced snow melting.
The average maximum temperature recorded in the study area, lying mostly between 1800 metres and 4000 metres in the lower Himalayan snow climate zone, has shown northward trend.
Mercury settled there at more than zero degree Celcius during winters, except for January-February of 2004-05 and January 2006 against a normal sub-zero temperature.
Gurez and Machhal had more number of snowfall days — 60 and 64 days respectively, while Gulmarg recorded a moderate 48 days and Banihal only 37 days of snow, the study said.
“Altitude and positions of different regions are the primary parameters and play an important role in the accumulation as well as ablation pattern of seasonal snow cover,” the researchers said.
–PTI