How Arctic weather could affect Indian farmers this year

A new study has found a link between the Indian monsoon and the temperatures at specific locations in the Arctic region

While the Indian Meteorological Department has predicted 97 per cent of normal monsoon rains this year, meteorologists at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune are keeping a close eye on unfolding weather conditions at the Arctic Circle— 5,000 km away — for their potential to help forecast, and possibly impact, this year’s monsoon. 

Data spanning the years 1951 to 2014 show that temperature and pressure conditions at specific locations in the Arctic region during the pre-monsoon period correlate with the Indian summer monsoon rainfall, according to recent research led by Santosh B Kakade, a scientist at the