'Annual mean temperature for country has risen by .52 degree'

NEW DELHI: Annual mean temperature for the country as a whole has risen by .52 degree celsius in the past 107 years since 1901, according to a data analysis by the Met department, the government informed the Rajya Sabha.

In his reply to a written question in the Upper House, environment minister Jairam Ramesh said, "the analysis of data for the period 1901-2008 by meteorological department suggests that annual mean temperature for the country as a whole has risen by .52 degree celsius over the period."

Ramesh said the concentration of green house gas (GHG) in the atmosphere was leading to global warming and that spatial pattern of trends in the mean annual temperature show significant positive (increasing) trend over most parts of the country.

However, in parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Bihar significant negative (decreasing) trends were observed, the minister added.

Regarding the melting of glaciers, he said as per Geological Survey of India, the majority of himalayan glaciers were receding at varying rates during the twentieth century.

However, he added, "Recession of glaciers is a complex phenomenon ... Thus it is not possible to specify the role played by the rise in temperature alone in this shrinkages."

The receding of glaciers may lead to reduction in their ice reserves, besides changes in the river hydrology, enhanced silt and debris production, ecological disturbances and rise in sea level, Ramesh said.