The persistent heat wave sweeping through most parts of West Bengal this summer has triggered concerns among climatologists, who feel that this is actually the harbinger of changing weather patterns and part of the global climate change process. The city recorded its highest temperature of the season ? 41.5 degree Celsius ? on Tuesday. Even 15 years ago, heat waves were limited to Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Later, they expanded their influence to the neighbouring Odisha, and now it has engulfed Kolkata and the adjoining districts in West Bengal. ?The dry heat in South Bengal which about a decade ago used to be limited to central India has now become regular in south Bengal.

This cannot just be brushed aside as localised phenomenon, as such a change in weather may be due to the effect of global climate change,? climatologist Anshujyoti Das of Express Weather, a private weather research organisation told The Hindu. The poll fever seems to be in remission mode, but mercury continues to soar in the city. The current temperature in the city on Tuesday according to the Regional Meteorological Centre, Alipore, is almost 6 degrees above normal. The summer weather in Kolkata and adjoining districts used to be humid. But it has turned into dry heat. As a result, places such as Kolkata, Bankura and Purulia are experiencing desert-like heat.

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