Of learning and observing….

Posted on 03. Jun, 2010 by Leela Raina in India

They say that you can never be too old to learn and there is no one else who can live up to this statement like Dr Karumuri Ashok who is the new Scientist in the Indian Delegation. He is here to learn , observe and most importantly to make that transition from a “scientist” to a “negotiator”.

His sparkling eyes and great temperament and outlook towards civil society is appreciated and I hope this continues and the - becoming negotiator part of him doesn’t defeat that. We warmly welcome him and hope that he continues and builds relationships with the civil society the way he has.

Having been associated as a senior scientist from The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune . He has set up the new climate change research center with the groundbreaking paper on ENSO MODOKI (pseudo ENSO) of which you can learn from The ” Nature” 2009 issue

Climate change: The El Niño with a difference

Karumuri Ashok¹ & Toshio Yamagata²

Patterns of sea-surface warming and cooling in the tropical Pacific seem to be changing, as do the associated atmospheric effects. Increased global warming is implicated in these shifts in El Niño phenomena.

Through the El Niño events^{1, 2} that occur every 3–8 years or so, the state of the tropical Pacific Ocean and overlying atmosphere has global effects on climate — sometimes with devastating effects, for example on agriculture in India. El Niños are defined by warmer than normal sea surface temperatures in the eastern tropical Pacific, and are associated with anomalous atmospheric circulation patterns known as the Southern Oscillation.

El nino

a, An El Niño event is produced when the easterly winds weaken; sometimes, in the west, westerlies prevail. This condition is categorized by warmer than normal sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the east of the ocean, and is associated with alterations in the thermocline and in the atmospheric circulation that make the east wetter and the west drier. b, An El Niño Modoki event is an anomalous condition of a distinctly different kind. The warmest SSTs occur in the central Pacific, flanked by colder waters to the east and west, and are associated with distinct patterns of atmospheric convection. c, d, The opposite (La Niña) phases of the El Niño and El Niño Modoki respectively. Yeh et al.³ argue that the increasing frequency of the Modoki condition is due to anthropogenic warming, and that these events in the central Pacific will occur more frequently if global warming increases.

Here at the UNFCCC he looks into Climate prediction and modelling and those technical issues and jargon which are beyond normal people’s scope to comprehend. At bonn, he looks into SBSTA and more specifically systematic observations and methodologies .

When asked whether he incorporates saving the environment in real life he felt that he has always tried to save water drive less and tries to take public transport.

Before writing that ground breaking paper , he completed his masters in science ,Mtech and PHd(PHEW…!) from Andhara University in Vishakapatnam on the east coast of India. Being close to the Bay of Bengal which is one of his main driving forces to work on this area. The Cyclone of 1977 whose destruction left a deep impression on him moved him to work and contribute in his small way to study the problem and give a solution.

He is married with 2 children, the elder daughter is 6 years old and younger one 2 yrs old.

When I asked him whether as a scientist he thought climate change is happening or not , all we could get out of him was that personally as a scientist he could acknowledge that climate variability is taking place. With such carefully worded statements he is on the way of becoming a future negotiator. We wish him all the best and welcome to the really funny,big political family of UNFCCC!

Tags: Bonn, Dr ashok, India, new, science, UNFCCC