Abstract
The Indian monsoon, which comprises the seasonal reversal of winds and implies rainfall on land, is a complex system. Given that the national economy depends critically on monsoon, its rigorous understanding it warranted. We trace here the geological history of monsoon and the present trends of its performance. The monsoon as it is now is about 10–8 Ma old. It has fluctuated around a mean value at all timescales due to the response of causative factors to various global forcings—the dominant being the Sun-Earth geometry and consequent asymmetric heating of land versus oceans. Whereas most regions show analogous responses to global forcings, significant spatial heterogeneities are seen on shorter timescales. Instrumental data suggest general weakening of monsoon system and at the same time an increase in extreme events. A broad brush scenario of the monsoon and its variability through geological time is presented.
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Singhvi, A.K., Krishnan, R. (2014). Past and the Present Climate of India. In: Kale, V. (eds) Landscapes and Landforms of India. World Geomorphological Landscapes. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8029-2_2
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