Red Hot Indian Summer to get even hotter...stuck on "Auto" matic

The impact of the environmental damage caused by the rapid "growth" in India will be felt around the world in the decades to come. A large and growing population in a relatively small land mass, demanding "convenient necessities" like automotive vehicles, large houses, central air, and the latest electronic gear, can lead to catastrophic destruction of the environment and result in much higher prices for commodities.

Car makers' sales up in 2011 amid slowdown fears - The Economic Times: "Automobile makers made a robust start in 2011 amidst growing concerns about slowdown in demand due to rising interest rates and higher fuel costs.

The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki said its sales in January rose 24% to 1,00,422 units from a year earlier. Sales of Mahindra & Mahindra , top utility vehicle maker, grew by 15% to 17,208 units.

Tata Motors recorded 15% growth in January sales to 30,212 units. The Nano reported a 68% rise in sales to 6,703 units after successive decline in sales from July 2010 before recovering to post robust sales in December.

Hero Honda, which will see a split between partners and Hero and Honda, posted 20% rise in sales.

"Our strong sales for January have provided an excellent start to the new year. This is the ninth consecutive month of four lakh-plus sales. Going forward, we aim to build on this strong trend and further consolidate our position as the market leader," said Anil Dua, Sr. VP (Marketing & Sales), Hero Honda.

Temperatures in India set to reach 130-year high - The Economic Times: "Temperatures in India are set to get higher—higher than what the country has recorded in the past 130 years. The monsoon too is going to change; it will rain as much, perhaps higher, but in short, intense bursts, heightening the risk of floods and crop failure.

These are some of the grim findings of prominent meteorologists at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology , a government-funded research centre at Pune. IITM scientists K Krishna Kumar, S K Patwardhan and B N Goswami, along with scientists from France, USA and Thailand, have concluded that higher temperatures have a strong probability of coming true.Day temperatures will be higher and there will be less respite from the heat at night, says their research paper. The band of high-temperature days will get longer than now. In turn, these changes could result in higher heat-wave deaths, apart from impacting crops.

The average annual temperatures across the country could rise by 2 degree celsius by the middle of this century and by 3.5 degree celsius by its end, the scientists have said on the basis of several scientific and mathematical formulas that were used in tandem to predict the future. One such model suggested that temperatures could rise by as much as 6 degree celsius by the end of the century.

If green-house gas emissions are not reduced or controlled, the average daily maximum temperatures before the onset of monsoons would routinely stay above 45 degree celsius. And rains across the country could increase by 8-10% by the end of the century and come down with higher intensity, increasing the risk of floods and bad crops.

According to the scientists, rain in the May-October period could rise by 20%. This, they say, means the monsoon period could get extended.

The impact of these changes in the climate could be disastrous unless government pushes adaptation policies. Even adapting, such as introducing heat-resistant seeds, would not be able to completely counter the impact of the changes, the scientists warn.

The scientists found that in a pocket near Delhi—a good sample area for the Indo-Gangetic plain—the daily minimum temperatures could rise by as much as 5 degree celsius. Some studies show that a one-degree change can hit crop yields by 10%.

The authors of the research suggest that even if they were to take a conservative view, a 20% reduction in crop yields due to such increases in temperatures would be sufficient to badly hit the economy. "Such a situation of decreasing yields coupled with increasing population could be a major socio-economic issue," they warn.

Their conclusion is dire: "The changes are likely to have a large impact on agriculture and public health and a pervasive negative effect throughout the entire economy, unless, the government acts."

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