CANBERRA, Oct 20 — Australia’s weather bureau is not convinced that a La Nina weather pattern is forming that could change rainfall patterns and bring wilder weather to parts of the Americas, Asia and Oceania, affecting crop production, a senior climatologist said.

La Nina, and its analogue, El Nino, are caused by the cooling or warming of ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific.

The former typically brings greater rainfall to eastern Australia, South-east Asia and India with drier weather in the Americas, while El Nino does the reverse. Both can also lead to hurricanes and flooding.

Models forecasting the weather patterns typically converge on a strong signal around this time of year but there is currently a lot of variation, said Felicity Gamble of Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology.

“That speaks to the fact that there’s still a lot of uncertainty in the system,” she added.

La Nina conditions were present in weak strength, and would probably persist through December, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said this month.

The Australian bureau’s model shows sea surface temperatures brushing a La Nina threshold of 0.8 degrees Celsius below neutral levels in October, November and December before moving back towards neutral.

But the effect of the cooler water on atmospheric indicators such as cloud patterns and trade winds is not strong enough to impart confidence that a La Nina is taking place, Gamble added.

“Our model is probably one of the weaker forecasts for La Nina,” the senior climatologist said.

Although NOAA considered the atmospheric response sufficient, she said, “We’d like to see more.”

Except for some islands in the south-west Pacific, there was also no strong signal of rainfall patterns typically associated with La Nina, Gamble added.

“Because we aren’t seeing a particularly dominant La Nina-like pattern, we aren’t seeing the same magnitude of impacts ... When you have a weaker signal, you can have other influences start to play a bigger role and perhaps override it,” she said.

Three consecutive La Nina events between 2020 and 2023 brought plentiful rainfall leading to record crop yields in Australia, but drought and heatwaves in parts of the Americas. — Reuters

NEW DELHI: A toxic haze blanketed India’s capital on Monday as air pollution levels soared to more than 16 times the World Health Organization’s recommended daily maximum.

New Delhi and its metropolitan region, home to more than 30 million people, are regularly ranked among the world’s most polluted capitals.

Cooler air traps pollutants close to the ground, creating a deadly mix of emissions from crop burning, factories and heavy traffic.

Pollution has also spiked due to days of fireworks set off to mark Diwali, the major Hindu festival of lights culminating on Monday night.

Levels of PM2.5, cancer-causing microparticles small enough to enter the bloodstream, hit 248 micrograms per cubic metre in parts of the city according to monitoring organisation IQAir.

The government’s Commission of Air Quality Management said air quality is expected to further deteriorate in coming days.

Authorities implemented measures to curb pollution including ensuring uninterrupted power supply to reduce diesel generator use.

City authorities will trial cloud seeding by aeroplanes for the first time over Delhi this month to induce rain and clear the air.

“We’ve already got everything we need to do the cloud seeding”, Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa told reporters this month.

A study in The Lancet Planetary Health last year estimated 3.8 million deaths in India between 2009 and 2019 were linked to air pollution.

The UN children’s agency warns that polluted air puts children at heightened risk of acute respiratory infections. – AFP

NEW DELHI, 22 Okt: Kualiti udara di ibu negara India dan beberapa bandar lain merosot selepas berjuta-juta penduduk meraikan perayaan Diwali (Deepavali) dengan membakar mercun.

Jerebu toksik menyelubungi New Delhi dan kawasan-kawasan sekitar ibu negara itu selepas kemeriahan sambutan pada Isnin malam.

Indeks kualiti udara (AQI) Delhi, yang mengukur jirim zarahan halus berukuran 2.5 mikrometer atau kurang diameter (PM2.5), mencecah paras 360 pada pagi Selasa – tahap yang dianggap berbahaya kepada kesihatan sistem pernafasan.

Ibu negara India itu, yang sekian lama bergelut dengan masalah pencemaran udara kronik, mengalami peningkatan mendadak tahap PM2.5 setiap kali sambutan Diwali akibat penggunaan mercun secara meluas.

Pencemaran udara meningkat berkali ganda antara petang dan malam Isnin, manakala jerebu kelabu menjejaskan jarak penglihatan pada Selasa.

Beberapa insiden kebakaran yang dikaitkan dengan penggunaan mercun turut dilaporkan di seluruh India. – TVS

MANILA, Oct 20: Seven people were reported killed while two others were missing due to Tropical Storm Ramil, the Philippine News Agency (PNA) reported, citing the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Monday.

In its latest situational report, the NDRRMC also said one person was injured due to the cyclone.

Five of the reported fatalities were from Calabarzon (Southern Tagalog) while two were from Region 6 (Western Visayas). Meanwhile, the two missing were from Western Visayas while the injured was from Calabarzon.

The NDRRMC report said all the figures are subject for validation.

Ramil, which lashed portions of Luzon and the Visayas over the weekend, also affected 37,852 families or 133,196 persons in Regions 2 (Cagayan Valley), 3 (Central Luzon), 6, and 8 (Eastern Visayas).

As of Monday noon, 2,260 families are being aided in 166 evacuation centres while another 1,720 are being assisted in other places, the NDRRMC said.

Damaged houses were placed at 68, all in Region 6, with 57 classified as “partially damaged” and 11 as “totally damaged.” – TVS