Paradoxical behaviour of rainfall and temperature over ecologically sensitive areas along the Western Ghats

Abstract

Abstract Initial reports signify some specific isolated locations in different latitudes, revealing a paradoxical increase in both heavy and very heavy rainfall events and also an increment in total, i.e., in both rainfall and temperature, over ecologically sensitive areas along the Western Ghats (WG). This paper presents a coherent study of the full-scale of daily rainfall and temperature over 27 well-spaced stations in the study area to determine its extent and investigate whether or not this contradictory behaviour is real. Also, an attempt has been made to assess the differential behaviour of rainfall, temperature, and heavy rainfall events in association with land use and land cover change (LULC). The analysis revealed that rainfall and temperature over the study area are increasing, whereas heavy rainfall events have increased during 1981–2020 with strong peaks after 2000 around 18o-19oN (Mumbai metropolitan region), 14o-16oN (mining and quarrying regions in Goa), and 9o-12oN (a narrow strip of land spanning across the coastal towns of Karnataka and Kerala) latitudes. The majority of the rainfall excess years coincided with El-Nino years, indicating that El-Nino does not affect rainfall negatively. However, rainfall over the WG is influenced by local relief and cascading topography. The spatial pattern of average annual rainfall shows a decreasing trend from south to north because the elevation and span of rainfall occurrence are higher in the southern part of WG. The findings of the current research will help in building a strategy to address trends and patterns of climatic variables in association with LULC.