Key highlights of the study:
- Northeast India, one of the wettest places on the Earth has been experiencing rapid drying, especially in the last 30 years. Some places which used to get as high as 3,000 mm of rain during the monsoon season have seen a drop of about 25-30%.
- This decline is associated with natural changes in the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO). Its impact on the sea surface temperatures and its interaction with the atmosphere affects the northeast Indian summer monsoon.
- The team used observed rainfall and sea surface temperature data for the period 1901-2014 for the study. The results show out that the reduction in rainfall during a major part of the last 114 years may be associated with global man-made factors, while the trend during the last 36 years is associated with natural phenomena.
