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FrontPage: Why might people in South Asia say, “Happiness is a cloudy day?”

Monsoons and CyclonesHappiness is a cloudy day, but not always…

Monsoons• Due to their effect on agriculture, flora and

fauna and the general weather of south Asia, a monsoon is one of the most anticipated, followed and studied weather phenomena of the Indian subcontinent. – It has significant impact on the overall well-

being of subcontinent residents and has even been dubbed the "real finance minister of India”

• In the subcontinent, it is one of oldest weather observations, an economically important weather pattern and the most anticipated weather event and unique weather phenomenon. Yet it is only partially understood and notoriously difficult to predict.

Monsoons• Arabic for “season”

– “Any current of air that blows steadily from the same direction for weeks at a time”.

• Winter – (Oct. to Feb.) Dry monsoon– Winds from NE bring dry air, very little

moisture

• Summer – (June to Sept.) Wet monsoon– Winds from SW bring very moist air from

Arabian/Indian Ocean

• “Happiness is a cloudy day”

How Monsoons Work

India set for bumper winter crops in wake of

monsoon rains2013 news article:

Farmers in one of the world's leading producers and consumers of food sow winter crops from October, a month after the June-September monsoon rains ebb, with harvesting starting from March.

Effects of the Monsoon on India

Cylcones• A tropical cyclone is a rapidly-rotating storm

system characterized by a low-pressure center, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain. – Depending on its location and strength, a tropical

cyclone is referred to by names such as hurricane, typhoon, tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, and simply cyclone.[1]

• Every 5-7 years, tropical cyclones blow in from the Bay of Bengal– Huge winds (<150 mph) and high waves (<20 ft.)

• Bangladesh is most frequent victim– Government unable to prevent most destruction– Most recent destructive cyclone before 2005?

• 1991

Cyclones• Each year an average of 119 million people

globally are exposed to the threat of tropical cyclones, with more than 85 percent of the expected annual deaths in Bangladesh and India alone, and each of the top five most exposed populations - China, India, Japan, Philippines, Bangladesh - also in Asia.

"The impact of cyclones is much higher in Asia, compared to the US which is also hit frequently, because of the economic conditions and gaps in early-warning mechanisms,"

These extreme weather systems, called cyclones in the Indian Ocean and southwestern Pacific Ocean, typically appear from May to November and are accompanied by torrential rains and wind speeds exceeding 119km per hour.

Worst Asian Cyclones2 May 2008 - Myanmar - Cyclone Nargis hit the

Ayeyarwady Delta, leaving 140,000 dead or missing

29 April 1991 - Bangladesh - About 143,000 people died when Cyclone 02B hit the southern coast, leaving as many as 10 million homeless.

12 November 1970 - East Pakistan/Bangladesh - Termed the "greatest tropical system disaster of the century" by the US National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Cyclone Bhola swept the low-lying areas of the Bengal coast, killing upwards of 500,000 people.

16 October 1942 - India - A cyclone hit the Bay of Bengal near the India-East Pakistan border, killing 40,000.

US “cyclones”•Hurricane Katrina is estimated as the costliest tropical cyclone worldwide, with overall damage estimates exceeding $100 billion.

•Katrina killed at least 1,836 people after striking Louisiana and Mississippi as a major hurricane in August 2005.

•Hurricane Sandy was the second most destructive tropical cyclone in U.S history (2012), with damages totaling $68 billion.