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Asia Minute: India’s Monsoon Worries

Wikipedia Commons
Wikipedia Commons

Forecasters say part of the reason for the high number of storms in the Pacific this summer is because of a strong El Nino.  That weather pattern makes the waters of the central Pacific warmer than usual, and that same weather pattern has a strong impact of a different kind in central Asia.  HPR’s Bill Dorman explains in today’s Asia Minute.

Hot and humid: words for much of Hawai‘i’s summer…along with some heavy rainfall at times, depending on your precise location in the islands.  For large portions of India…August has been hot, but not so wet…and that could lead to trouble.  We’re about three-quarters of the way through monsoon season in India.  That’s a four month period when seasonal rain can bring relief to farmers…or a lack of it can lead to crisis.

This week, the Indian Meteorological Department said August rainfall came in more than 20% below normal…the second month in a row of what the government calls a “monsoon deficit.”  June was 16% above normal...but forecasters warn September is looking drier than usual.

Monsoon season is critical for India….where rain waters about half the nation’s crops.  According to government figures, agriculture makes up about 15% of India’s overall economy….which grew more slowly than expected in the first quarter.  Earlier this summer India’s central bank called a monsoon shortfall the single biggest threat to the economy….definitely making it a factor in the bank’s next decision on interest rates….coming at the end of this month.

Bill Dorman has been the news director at Hawaiʻi Public Radio since 2011.
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