Bangalore geography and environment
Geography
In the 16th century, Kempe Gowda I constructed many lakes to meet Bangalore's water requirements. The Kempambudhi Kere, since overrun by modern development, was prominent among those lakes. In the earlier half of 20th century, the Nandi Hills
Bangalore has a handful of freshwater lakes and
Vegetation in the city is primarily in the form of large deciduous canopy and minority coconut trees. Though Bangalore has been classified as a part of the seismic zone III, it has experienced quakes of magnitude as high as 6.4.
Topography
The topography of Bangalore is undulating with a central
The South Bangalore taluk has an uneven landscape with intermingling hills and valleys. The southern and western portions of the city consist of a topology of granite and gneissic masses. The eastern portion is a plane, with rare minor undulations.
There are no major rivers flowing through the city. However, rivers Arkavathi and
.The rock types prevalent in the district belong to the Saugar, Charnokite and Peninsular Gneissic Complex (PGC) groups. The PGC is the dominant group of rocks and covers two-thirds of the area and includes granites, gneisses and migmatites. The soils in Bangalore vary from red laterite to clayey soils.
Climate
Bangalore | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Climate chart (explanation) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Due to its elevation, Bangalore enjoys a pleasant and equable climate throughout the year. However, due to deforestation, the temperature has recently risen. The new record is around 40 degrees Celsius in 2016. Winter temperatures rarely drop below 13 °C (52 °F) and summer temperatures seldom exceed 37 °C (97 °F)[7][8]
The hottest summer day on average has a maximum temperature of about 37 degrees celsius, and the coldest winter day has a temperature of about 13 degrees celsius. Occasionally, heat waves can cause temperatures of up to 38 degrees celsius. A cold wave hit in the winter of 2018, leading to temperatures as low as 9 degrees celsius. Bangalore receives about 970 mm of rain annually, with the wettest months being August, September and October. The heaviest rainfall recorded in a 24-hour period was 159.7 mm recorded on 1 October 1997.
Most of the rainfall occurs during late afternoon, evening or night and rain before noon is infrequent. November 2015 (290.4 mm) was recorded as one of the wettest months in Bangalore with heavy rains causing severe flooding in some areas, and closure of a number of organisations for over a couple of days.[8]
Climate data for Bangalore (1981–2010, extremes 1901–2012) | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 32.8 (91.0) |
35.9 (96.6) |
37.3 (99.1) |
38.3 (100.9) |
38.9 (102.0) |
38.1 (100.6) |
33.3 (91.9) |
33.3 (91.9) |
33.3 (91.9) |
32.4 (90.3) |
31.7 (89.1) |
31.1 (88.0) |
38.9 (102.0) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 27.9 (82.2) |
30.7 (87.3) |
33.1 (91.6) |
34.0 (93.2) |
33.3 (91.9) |
29.6 (85.3) |
28.3 (82.9) |
27.8 (82.0) |
28.6 (83.5) |
28.2 (82.8) |
27.2 (81.0) |
26.5 (79.7) |
29.6 (85.3) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 15.8 (60.4) |
17.5 (63.5) |
20.0 (68.0) |
22.0 (71.6) |
21.7 (71.1) |
20.4 (68.7) |
19.9 (67.8) |
19.8 (67.6) |
19.8 (67.6) |
19.6 (67.3) |
18.0 (64.4) |
16.2 (61.2) |
19.2 (66.6) |
Record low °C (°F) | 7.8 (46.0) |
9.4 (48.9) |
11.1 (52.0) |
14.4 (57.9) |
16.7 (62.1) |
16.7 (62.1) |
16.1 (61.0) |
14.4 (57.9) |
15.0 (59.0) |
13.2 (55.8) |
9.6 (49.3) |
8.9 (48.0) |
7.8 (46.0) |
Average rainfall mm (inches) | 1.9 (0.07) |
5.4 (0.21) |
18.5 (0.73) |
41.5 (1.63) |
107.4 (4.23) |
106.5 (4.19) |
112.9 (4.44) |
147.0 (5.79) |
212.8 (8.38) |
168.3 (6.63) |
48.9 (1.93) |
15.7 (0.62) |
986.9 (38.85) |
Average rainy days | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 3.1 | 6.7 | 6.2 | 7.2 | 9.9 | 9.8 | 8.3 | 3.8 | 1.4 | 58.1 |
Average relative humidity (%) (at 17:30 IST )
|
41 | 32 | 29 | 35 | 47 | 62 | 65 | 67 | 64 | 65 | 61 | 53 | 52 |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 262.3 | 247.6 | 271.4 | 257.0 | 241.1 | 136.8 | 111.8 | 114.3 | 143.6 | 173.1 | 190.2 | 211.7 | 2,360.9 |
Source 1: India Meteorological Department[9][10] | |||||||||||||
Source 2: NOAA (sun: 1971–1990)[11]
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Climate data for Bangalore Airport (1981–2010, extremes 1949–2012)
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 32.2 (90.0) |
35.0 (95.0) |
36.6 (97.9) |
38.3 (100.9) |
38.0 (100.4) |
37.5 (99.5) |
33.0 (91.4) |
32.2 (90.0) |
33.0 (91.4) |
32.5 (90.5) |
31.7 (89.1) |
30.3 (86.5) |
38.3 (100.9) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 27.6 (81.7) |
30.3 (86.5) |
32.7 (90.9) |
33.8 (92.8) |
33.1 (91.6) |
29.8 (85.6) |
28.6 (83.5) |
28.1 (82.6) |
28.6 (83.5) |
28.1 (82.6) |
26.9 (80.4) |
26.2 (79.2) |
29.5 (85.1) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 14.8 (58.6) |
16.2 (61.2) |
18.7 (65.7) |
21.0 (69.8) |
21.2 (70.2) |
20.1 (68.2) |
19.6 (67.3) |
19.5 (67.1) |
19.5 (67.1) |
19.2 (66.6) |
17.5 (63.5) |
15.4 (59.7) |
18.6 (65.5) |
Record low °C (°F) | 8.8 (47.8) |
10.0 (50.0) |
11.7 (53.1) |
14.6 (58.3) |
16.7 (62.1) |
16.1 (61.0) |
16.1 (61.0) |
15.0 (59.0) |
15.6 (60.1) |
13.7 (56.7) |
10.5 (50.9) |
9.2 (48.6) |
8.8 (47.8) |
Average rainfall mm (inches) | 1.4 (0.06) |
5.7 (0.22) |
15.5 (0.61) |
42.7 (1.68) |
94.5 (3.72) |
91.1 (3.59) |
97.7 (3.85) |
122.2 (4.81) |
183.5 (7.22) |
155.9 (6.14) |
50.6 (1.99) |
13.8 (0.54) |
874.6 (34.43) |
Average rainy days | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 5.5 | 5.1 | 7.0 | 8.9 | 9.2 | 8.3 | 4.1 | 1.2 | 53.5 |
Average relative humidity (%) (at 17:30 IST )
|
41 | 31 | 28 | 35 | 46 | 62 | 65 | 67 | 63 | 65 | 61 | 54 | 52 |
Source: India Meteorological Department[9][10] |
Seismicity
Because it lies in the seismically stable region, Zone III (encompassing parts of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh), Bangalore has been untouched by major seismic events. Only mild tremors have been recorded frequently in the city. The largest earthquake that has ever hit the city was of magnitude 6.4 in April 1843.
Land use
Component | PIU "ideal" Index | Average Score |
Air Quality | 395 | 180 |
Water Quality | 130 | 121 |
Land | 40 | 37 |
Terrestrial ecosystem | 150 | 143 |
Aquatic ecosystem | 15 | 12.5 |
Socio-economic (traffic, quality of life, etc.) |
270 | 49.5 |
Total | 1000 | 542 |
Table 1: Adapted from Table 17 of "Environment Impact Analysis" (2003) conducted by Bangalore Mass Rapid Transport Limited (BMRTL) |
According to data contained in the
General metropolitan environment
A
The Bangalore metropolitan area, referred to as the
In 2003, the Battelle Environmental Evaluation System (BEES) index used to evaluate environmental components was used to rate Bangalore's physical, biological and socioeconomic parameters. The results are summarized in Table 1.
See also
References
- ^ "FAQ". Archived from the original on 6 February 2006. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
- ^ "Thirsty Bengalooru seeks divine help". Hindustan Times. 2006. HT Media Ltd. 9 June 2003.
- ^ a b ""Environmental Impact Analysis"" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 March 2006. (362 KB). Bangalore Metropolitan Rapid Transport Corporation Limited.. 2006. Government of Karnataka. 2005.
- ^ "Studyarea- Bangalore" Archived 16 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Centre for Ecological Sciences. 2006. Indian Institute of Science.
- ^ "Each drop of water counts". Archived from the original on 11 March 2007.. Deccan Herald. 2006. The Printers (Mysore) Ltd. 11 March 2004
- ^ "TN now lays claim to City sewage". Deccan Chronicle. 24 April 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ^ "Local Weather Report and Forecast". Archived from the original on 4 February 2006. Retrieved 7 February 2006.
- ^ a b "Average Mean Daily Temperature Chart" (GIF). Cpc.ncep.noaa.gov. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ^ a b "Station: Bangalore/Bangaluru Climatological Table 1981–2010" (PDF). Climatological Normals 1981–2010. India Meteorological Department. January 2015. pp. 81–84. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- ^ a b "Extremes of Temperature & Rainfall for Indian Stations (Up to 2012)" (PDF). India Meteorological Department. December 2016. p. M88–M89. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- ^ "Bangalore Climate Normals 1971–1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
Further reading
- Bangalore Metropolitan Rapid Transport Limited, Environmental Impact Analysis, 2003 last accessed 6 February 2006.
- Indian Institute of Science, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Study Area: Bangalore last accessed 6 February 2006.
- Visualizing Bangalore weather
- Singh. R.L. 1964. Bangalore - an urban survey. Tara Publications, Varanasi, First Edition.
- Venkatarayappa, K.N. 1957. Bangalore (A Socio-Ecological Study). Bombay University Press, Bombay.