Sunshine Hours in India Declining Every Year, New Alarming Study Reveals

India is experiencing a decline in sunshine hours, and it's a concerning trend, a new study has revealed. The alarming research published in Nature's Scientific Reports, conducted by scientists from Banaras Hindu University (BHU), the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune and the India Meteorological Department (IMD), found that the sunshine hours have been shrinking across most parts of India over the past three decades.

For the study, the researchers studied the data collected from over 20 stations located in nine geographically diverse regions in the country. They did an analysis of trends during 1988-2018.

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The researchers found that the north Indian plains saw the steepest drop at 13.1 hours per year, followed by the West Coast with 8.6 hours annually. On average, the sunshine received by the Himalayan region fell by about 9.5 hours every year during the study period. The East Coast experienced a decline of 4.9 hours per year, the Deccan plateau 3.1 hours annually, and central inland regions 4.7 hours yearly.

As per the authors, the sunshine hours in a month increased from October to May, followed by significant reductions during June-July in six regions. However, the findings were different in the northern inland and Himalayan region as these regions showed comparatively opposite monthly trends.

"The study reveals persistent decline of (sunshine hours) in Indian subcontinent on all temporal scales excluding north eastern region where mild seasonal levelling off was found," the authors wrote.

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What could cause this?

Tiny particles from industrial emissions, biomass burning, and vehicular pollution could contribute significantly to the decline in sunshine hours. The scientists also found the increased cloudiness during monsoon months (June-September), which makes the situation worse.

"The study reveals persistent decline of SSH [Sunshine Hours] in Indian subcontinent on all temporal scales excluding north eastern region where mild seasonal levelling off was found," the authors noted.

Experts have stated that a decline in sunshine would affect solar power generation efficiency, impacting India's renewable energy goals. The crops that are reliant on photosynthesis might see reduced yields.