Delhi is getting warmer, blame it on pollution and Global Warming     

As per the Indian Meteorological Department reports, 18th January of this year was the warmest January day in past 8 years when the maximum temperature reached as high as 27.7 degree Celsius. The mercury is eight points above normal temperature. It must be remembered that January is not yet finished, however 8 years ago (on 30th January, 2008) maximum temperature recorded at Delhi was 28 degree Celsius. The minimum temperature remained around 7 degree Celsius which is normal for the month.

For Delhi, December 2017 and January 2018 remained abnormal. IMD claims that it did a long-range winter forecast that maximum and minimum temperatures would remain higher in northern states of the country, including Delhi. December 2017 was second warmest December since 2008, first is December 2016. The average day temperature during December 2017 was 24.08 degree Celsius, only Decembers of 2008 and 2016 were higher in temperature with 24.5 degree Celsius during both years. However, Delhi witnessed some cold days during December and even rainfall on 11th December.

January 2018 is even bad for Delhi as no rainfall is in sight yet, however IMD predicts rainfall on 23rd January and then some cold wave is expected. Until now, not a single cold wave or cold day has been witnessed and as a result, temperature remained higher than normal during the day. In fact, it is one of the warmest winters in the last decade. The average day temperature till 18th January was 21.7 degree Celsius. Such high temperature was recorded in January 2009 and for January 2017, it was 21.1 degree Celsius.

As per MET department, direction of the wind is responsible for unusual warming of Delhi. It completely ignored the role of air pollution and global warming. As per a recent report by NASA, earth's global surface temperatures in 2017 ranked as the second warmest since 1880. Continuing the planet's long-term warming trend, globally averaged temperatures in 2017 were 0.90 degrees Celsius warmer than the 1951 to 1980 mean, according to scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. That is second only to global temperatures in 2016, when share of solar flares and El Nino were also considered apart from global warming. In 2017, however, there was no El Nino or solar flares; it is only due to global warming.

The planet's average surface temperature has risen about a little more than 1 degree Celsius during the last century or so, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere. Last year was the third consecutive year in which global temperatures were more than 1 degree Celsius above late nineteenth-century levels. Global warming interferes with the wind conditions and climate too. It may be possible that a warmed planet would have interfered in the wind pattern of Northern states of the country to make them hotter.

Pollution is another probable culprit. Delhi has a large number of homeless people and they spend their day and night on the footpaths and open parks. Since, night temperature is normal, i.e. cold, these people warm themselves with burning of wood, leaves, papers, tires and garbage. It is usual practice in all over Delhi. As it is practiced in evening, night or early morning when surrounding air is denser with humidity and fog, most of the gases emitted from the fire remain at low height only. The fog forms an envelope in lower atmosphere and in low wind conditions concentration of gases increases near the surface and it warms the atmosphere.

The great variation in minimum and maximum temperatures is very bad for health as it promotes the bacteria, viruses and other pathogens. Cough, cold and common flu are common in such situation. Only rain gives respite from such situations and also from deadly pollution.