A transformative Baishakh could not make people happier

Belying the weathermen's prediction, this Baishakh has been milder than the ferocious, virulent, punishing and merciless first month on the Bangla calendar. The month that upturns virtually a cauldron of sizzling fire on this part of the world has been kinder enough this time. Barring a short spell of scorching heat, the month now at the end of its third week, has spared the people of this land from what weather experts call 'wet bulb' temperature.

Of course, in some areas of the country, temperature has reportedly soared closer to 40 degree Celsius but this has not been the case for the entire country. Even in Dhaka which at this time of the year turns into a veritable hell because of sweltering heat, a more modest Baishakh has never occurred in the living memory. Before soaring temperature can prolong for a long spell, the sky gathers black clouds to pour short spells of rains like magic. Its impact is so beneficial that the environment gets cooler and gives the impression that the climate here is moderate. It so happens that the sun hides itself behind clouds at day time and at night, the temperature falls quite sharply making air cooler and electric fan redundant. Towards the morning on some days, it is cool enough to demand a thin sheet for cover over sleeping people.

Has the country's climate turned into a savanna climate, one has every reason to wonder! The distinct features of the month this year cannot escape perceptive minds. But there is more pronounced a feature ---one that may go unnoticed by most people. It is the breeze. While some days the gentle breeze from the south and south-west turns somewhat restive and naughty, the breeze from the north is quite surprising. Looked more closely, there emerges a pattern. If the unsettling strong breeze from the south blows, there is no guarantee that the temperature will drop significantly. But when the northern breeze comes merrily, it makes the environment temperate as if this land belongs to a tropical savanna region.

The El Nino has played a part in changing climate not only in the sub-continent but over a wider area of the planet. Strange things are happening all around the world. It was reported a couple of years back that the chilly weather from Siberia could not make its inroad in this land because of the influence of the El Nino. Then what is triggering the cooler breeze from the north in this high summer? Well, laymen like us are unlikely to have any idea of this extraordinary weather phenomenon. Weather scientists should focus on this issue in order to understand the capricious weather and explain this phenomenon to the public.

The people of this land will be grateful to this environmental development, provided that the pattern continues forever. What can be more desirable a climate than the one the country is now experiencing. Temperature below 30 degree Celsius can make the entire population including those who have to work in the open under the sun happy. High temperature is energy-sapping and milder temperature, if it just prevailed year after year, would have raised the productivity of the people here. This bracing weather certainly makes the people thankful to the Almighty.

Well, some may complain that without the usual hot temperature, the summer's precious gifts such as mango, the king of fruits, litchi, will not mature and ripen. Perhaps they will prove wrong. This year was the best one for the top grade water melon. Also in Karnataka, Bangalore in particular where temperate weather exists throughout the year, some of the nicest varieties of mangoes are available. Moderate temperature's benefits are sure to outweigh the losses if any.

What about wishing a reversal of weather patterns between the colder and warmer parts of the planet? Some developments such as rising temperature in Europe with Paris experiencing sizzling heat and both Canada and the USA suffering 'heat domes' can encourage the wish list of a citizen of this tropical country for such a climate exchange between the northern and the southern hemispheres. The equatorial line, the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn may not allow this to happen but if a phenomenon of El Nino's order can do the trick for people in Bangladesh, it will be most welcome.