Need for Wider Tracking of Climate Stress - El Nino

Gist Following a significant southwest monsoon deficit, a strengthening El Niño threatens to induce extreme dry conditions across India, stressing farms, forests, and wetlands. While macro-level weather forecasting through satellite data has improved substantially, local ecosystems respond differently to identical climate shocks based on micro-ecological factors. To build resilience and direct resources efficiently, India must transition from fragmented institutional efforts to a coordinated, real-time, field-level ecological monitoring network. Aspirants must understand this shift from purely meteorological forecasting to localized ecological tracking as a vital component of India's climate adaptation strategy. Background The India Meteorological Department IMD acts as the nodal agency for predicting macro-atmospheric disturbances, successfully issuing alerts for extreme events like cyclones and heat waves using continuous, high-level satellite data. El Niño is a climate pattern characterised by the unusual warming of surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, which historically suppresses monsoon rainfall in India and triggers prolonged dry spells. Disaster response and climate tracking in India have traditionally relied heavily on top-down satellite imagery, which excels at macro-weather forecasting but often misses localized ecological nuances such…