Temperature Controls in the city of New Delhi in India

 

This post will provide basic information about the weather and climate of New Delhi, India along with some of the factors that affect temperature and other climatic conditions.  Following a brief overview, this post will hypothesize the effects that climate change could have on the region. 

New Delhi is the capital of India and can be found at 28.21 N, 77.21 E.  The warmest month in New Delhi is June with an average temperature of  93.7 °F, and the coolest month is January with an average temperature of 57.6 °F.  Therefore, the annual range of average temperature for New Delhi as 36.1°.  This data was acquired from en.climate-data.org/location/30/.  One of the major controls for temperature in New Delhi is its proximity to the Himalayas and Thar Desert, which cause the city to experience weather extremes.  Although winters are generally mild, cold waves originating in northern Asia sweep over the Himalayas and bring cold dry air to the region during the winter months.  From the end of June to late September, southwestern Monsoon winds bring the majority of annual precipitation to New Delhi and help keep the city relatively cooler during the summer months.  However, one control that does not greatly affect temperature in New Delhi is ocean currents.  This is due to New Delhi’s relatively large distance from the Indian Ocean, resulting in little influence on temperature. 

Even though the effects of climate change are difficult to predict, changes to global weather patterns could have a devastating effect on New Delhi and the entire Indian subcontinent if they affected the seasonal Monsoon winds.  The exact cause of the south-western Monsoon in India currently unknown, but there are a few factors that are believed to influence it.  These factors are the land/sea differential heating theory, the dynamic theory (in reference to the seasonal shift of the ITCZ), and the jet stream theory.  While all three theories are different in their own respect, they all depend on differences in solar insolation in some form or another as a driving mechanism.  Therefore if rising global temperatures somehow drastically increased regional cloud cover (which in turn reduced the amount solar energy reaching the Earth’s surface), it’s possible that the effects of the normal Monsoon winds would be degraded, resulting in higher average temperatures and drought. 

To conclude, there are a number of factors that affect New Delhi’s temperature and climate.  Some of the more prominent factors are the city’s proximity to the Himalayas and Thar Desert along with the prevailing seasonal winds.  In addition, if global climate change begins to affect the monsoon winds, it could have a widespread and devastating effect on the entire region.