Gsing
Pakistan Journal of Meteorology
Vol. 9, Issue 17: Jul 2012
Rainfall Trends in Different Climate Zones of Pakistan
Salma, S.1, S. Rehman1, M. A. Shah2 Abstract In this paper, the study was conducted across the country to assess the rainfall trend in different climate zones of Pakistan over the past three decades. For this purpose dataset comprising 30 years for the period 1976 to 2005 were acquired from 30 meteorological observatories from different parts of the country. The whole data was analyzed through Analysis Of Variations (ANOVA) along Dunnett T3 test. The result has shown a decreasing trend (-1.18mm/decade) all over the country, which may be attributed to the presence of drought period during 19982001. Stations located in different zones of the country mainly from North, North West, West and Coastal areas respectively show overall significant decreasing trend whereas plain areas and South West of the country have been observed with no significant trend. Adverse consequences of the rainfall have already been observed in Pakistan in the form of droughts and super floods which have badly affected human settlements, water management and agriculture sectors.
Keywords: Rainfall trend, Climate zones, ANOVA test along Dunnett T3 test.
Introduction
The issue of climate change has emerged very strongly during the last two decades on global scale in view of its projected implications on the environment of vulnerable states. Steadily rising temperature and its impacts on the cryosphere and rainfall are evident in many regions around the world. There are indications that Pakistan has had its share of the large climatic variations that are known to have taken place in northwest India in the past. The dominant component of the climate variations was spatial shifts in the rainfall patterns, associated with fluctuations in the general circulation of the atmosphere in the region (Rodo, 2003).Changes in rainfall pattern directly affect water, agriculture and
Vol. 9, Issue 17: Jul 2012
Rainfall Trends in Different Climate Zones of Pakistan
Salma, S.1, S. Rehman1, M. A. Shah2 Abstract In this paper, the study was conducted across the country to assess the rainfall trend in different climate zones of Pakistan over the past three decades. For this purpose dataset comprising 30 years for the period 1976 to 2005 were acquired from 30 meteorological observatories from different parts of the country. The whole data was analyzed through Analysis Of Variations (ANOVA) along Dunnett T3 test. The result has shown a decreasing trend (-1.18mm/decade) all over the country, which may be attributed to the presence of drought period during 19982001. Stations located in different zones of the country mainly from North, North West, West and Coastal areas respectively show overall significant decreasing trend whereas plain areas and South West of the country have been observed with no significant trend. Adverse consequences of the rainfall have already been observed in Pakistan in the form of droughts and super floods which have badly affected human settlements, water management and agriculture sectors.
Keywords: Rainfall trend, Climate zones, ANOVA test along Dunnett T3 test.
Introduction
The issue of climate change has emerged very strongly during the last two decades on global scale in view of its projected implications on the environment of vulnerable states. Steadily rising temperature and its impacts on the cryosphere and rainfall are evident in many regions around the world. There are indications that Pakistan has had its share of the large climatic variations that are known to have taken place in northwest India in the past. The dominant component of the climate variations was spatial shifts in the rainfall patterns, associated with fluctuations in the general circulation of the atmosphere in the region (Rodo, 2003).Changes in rainfall pattern directly affect water, agriculture and