By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : Temperatures have risen unexpectedly in some places in Orissa over past three days with one town Tuesday recording its warmest January in 127 years, officials said Thursday.
The cities of Cuttack, Angul, Titilagarh, Jharsuguda and capital city of Bhubaneswar recorded 36.6, 36.7, 36.0, 35.0 and 35.7 degrees Celsius temperature, respectively, on Tuesday, officials at the Bhubaneswar meteorological office said.
The previous highest temperatures recorded in these places were 35.6 degrees in Cuttack on Jan 29, 1882; 34.4 degrees in Angul on Jan 30, 1928; 34.7 in Titilagarh on Jan 31, 1980; 33.2 degrees in Jharsuguda on Jan 4, 1973 and 34.3 degrees Celsius in Bhubaneswar on Jan 31, 1979.
Director of the Bhubaneswar meteorological office S.C.Sahu said the sudden rise in temperature was due to the absence of northerly winds from the Himalayas.
“This is an unusual phenomenon,” Sahu told IANS. Normally one or two places record warm weather but this year, several places across the state witnessed the warmest weather in one day, he said.
On Wednesday there was a slight fall in the temperatures but in Angul, the temperature recorded was 36.7 which was still high, Sahu added.
The sudden rise in temperatures are being viewed with concern by experts, who attribute them to the global greenhouse effect and increasing industrial and mining activities.
“It is because of the global green house effect that we are witnessing high temperature. It is a preliminary sign of climate change,” environmentalist Biswajit Mohanty said, adding that this year they also witnessed fog in December which is unusual.
“There have been denudation of forests, and extensive industry and mining activities in the state for the past several years and I believe it has also some thing to do with it,” Mohanty told IANS.