Warmer winter impacts ice hockey, Chadar trek in the country’s coldest region of Ladakh.

Syllabus: GS-I

Subject: Geography

Topic: Geographical features and their location changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps).

Context: The unusually warm winter has impacted extreme winter sports like ice hockey and Chadar trek in the cold desert mountains of Ladakh.

Factors attributed for warm winter:

1. Declining trend of Western disturbances, which are large eastward-moving rain-bearing wind systems in recent times.
2. El Nino impact – unusual warming of surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean
3. Climate Change and rising temperatures.

Conclusion: Winter tourism destinations like Gulmarg have also witnessed no snowfall this winter affecting the agriculture and economy of the region.

Source: The Hindu