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InspirEd Explorer June 61 1999 INVESTIGATING MONSOONS NEW DELHI, INDIA - Frequently the monsoon season brings devastating floods to countries in southern and Southeast Asia. While the rains are vital to the region's food supply, they can also bring death. This week saw the end of a six-week study of the monsoons. Researchers found important clues to the summer monsoons that may help meteorologists predict the timing of the rains. Researcher PeterW ebster stated, "Roughly 65 percent of the world's population lives in monsoon regions. This is the fastest growing region on the planet. By the year 2025, it is anticipated this number will grow to 75 percent." The ability to predict the onset of the summer rains could save thousands or even millions of lives. Monsoons are large air masses in the tropics that move onto land from the sea during the summer and from the land back to the sea in winter. The word "monsoon" comes from "mawsin," the Arabic word for "season," since the winds change direction seasonally. Unlike temperate regions, the tropics have only two seasons, wet and dry. During the summer rainy season as much as 30 inches of precipitation a day can fall! The winter pattern brings dry conditions that can cause droughts. Minor changes in the pattern can greatly affect the people of the region .. Too much or too little rain can spell disaster for subsistence farming and can mean the difference between eating or not for many families of southern Asia. Rainfall from June to September provides countries such as India and Bangladesh with almost 90 percent of their water supply, so too little rain leaves the region with serious drought conditions. Too much rain, on the other hand, brings floods and landslides that can wipe out entire villages. Last year flooding along the Chiang Jiang River killed more than 3,700 people and caused more than $30 billion in damage. Scientists use satellite information to study the wind patterns that occur over the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. During the winter months cold, dry air flows from the Arctic across Asia. Then sometime during the spring the flow of air reverses and warm, wet, air from the south brings the rains. Researchers believe that the flow of air is determined by air pressure, since air moves from where pressure is high to where it is low. If scientists could discover why the flow reverses, they could better predict when rains and floods may occur. This study did find a possible link between the beginning of the summer monsoons and cyclones, whirling windstorms occurring in the ocean, but more research is needed. Summer monsoon rains are essential to crops in southern Asia and bring water to a region that depends on them. But the same rains can also be deadly. Floods and landslides kill thousands of people each year, and changes in the timing of the rains can bring drought and famine. Until scientists can better understand and predict the weather pattern, the monsoons will continue to be a blessing and a curse to the region. ©InspirEd Educators, Inc. 49