Here are some more graphs showing the percentage variation from the average for rainfall in Chiang Mai, Lamphun, Uttaradit and Phitsanulok. The red bar is the 2011 figure. The Chiang Mai graph is based on a different (more recent) data series to the graph I provided last Friday, and the 2011 is a little less exceptional given the very high falls in 2006 (in addition to 1953 and 1970). However the graphs for Lamphun, Uttaradit and Phitsanulok underline just how wet 2011 has been.
(Data, except for 2011, from the Hydrology and Water Management Centre for the Upper/Lower Northern Region. 2011 data from the Thai Meteorological Department. UPDATE: Please note, graph headings should read January to September.)
Look’s like it may be farmers’ fault after all:
“In the past we had wetlands and forests which helped absorb floods upstream, but much of that has gone now,” said Hannarong Yaowalert, chairman of the Foundation for Integrated Water Resources Management in Bangkok. “But today the wetlands are used for growing rice, and sometimes three crops a year instead of two crops like before. The authorities divert larger amounts of water further and further downstream.”
From the Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204644504576648952504293780.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Quality comment or not?
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