Jason Nicholls, senior meteorologist & manager of international forecasting with AccuWeather, answers email queries by SHAlINI SAKSENA
You said we are running hotter in Delhi this year as compared to the last couple of years, The reason.
The build up of heat can probably be attributed to dry ground and below average rainfall over the past couple of monsoons. Dry ground warms faster than wet ground since less of the sun's energy is lost due to evaporation.
How much of this heat been contributed due to Delhi's continental type of climateIJ
Geography certainly plays a role as some cities near the coast have not been as hot due to wind off the ocean at time.
Many opine that one should not blame global warming for Delhi's heat wave. Would you agree or you have a different takeIJ
Not sure it can be directly related to global warming. A lot may have to due with lack of soil moisture and poor rainfall. Whether the drought can be attributed to global warming is hard to say, but the rough the past couple of years is probably more a result of El Nino.
Is what Delhi facing going to be a norm for the coming years or can we expect hotter days in the coming yearsIJ
If we can get better rains over this monsoon and during the 2016/2017 winter it may take the edge of the heat for next spring/early summer.
How much have factors like deforestation, rampant construction, excessive use of ACs, poor infrastructure contributed to the city's summer woesIJ
Poor infrastructure and deforestation is likely a big contributor to the build up of heat. Urban or developed areas tend to be hotter than more rural areas as concert, asphalt and buildings absorb more heat that vegetation.
What is the point (area) where Accuweather checks for temperaturesIJ Most times it is different from what India Meteorological Department saysIJ
We check the entire nation of India and the world constantly and make changes as needed. We have several models we can look at and choose the one that looks best to make our forecasts. That may explain the differences. Also a lot of times the main observing site where we can verify forecasts is at the airport and depending on the location of the airport there can be differences between the city and airport.