CHENNAI: Blame it on urbanization or climate change, a compilation of weather data over the years proves what Chennaiites have always known - that the city is getting hotter. But, believe it or not, it's also getting wetter.
An analysis of temperatures in summer and winter months through 42 years shows the city had an almost equal number of hot days (above 40 degrees Celsius) and cold days (below 19 degrees Celsius) between 1969 and 1990. In the last 21 years, however, there have been almost four times more hot days (220) than cold days (58).
The study conducted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) says the number of hot days has gone up by 27% and the cold days down by 69% over the last four decades. Rapid urbanisation, increase in vehicular population and effects of global warming have been cited as the reasons for the rise in the city's average temperature.
Surprisingly, the average annual rainfall has increased by 11.2cm in the last two decades. "People say groundwater level has gone down because of weak monsoon. But, that is not true. We have had only a handful of years when the annual rainfall was below 100cm," said Y E A Raj, deputy director general of IMD in Chennai.
