------------------------------------------------------------------------- Do GOACAN a favour, circulate this email to your family members, relatives, neighbours and friends. Help others be BETTER INFORMED ------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------- Documented by Goa Desc Resource Centre (GDRC) Email: [email protected] ------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------- Summer Heat Wave: Goa needs Adaptation Strategies -------------------------------------------------------
by NANDKUMAR KAMAT Be prepared as climate change may hit Goa in full force this year. Goa, like many parts of rest of India, is likely to experience an unprecedented heat wave during March to May, with possibility of daily maximum temperatures crossing 40 degrees. On February 21Goa recorded 39.2 degrees Celsius, or 8 degrees above normal temperature, a historical record. It was because of low humidity that fortunately no calamities were reported. But humidity would increase before monsoon making the oncoming heat wave unbearable. The extreme weather phenomena is hitting all parts of the planet and Goa is not an exception. The Goa observatory and the state government need to issue 'weather advisories' between March to May. The administration needs be on alert to deal with any eventualities. A sustained rise in daily temperatures is a bad sign. It suppresses the human immune system. It has vast implications for ecology, economy, epidemiology, water security, public health, power supply and the general well being of citizens. Mosquitoes are proliferating under a climate regime favourable to insects. Falciparum malaria has not shown any sign of abatement. Encephalitis is here to stay. Elephantiasis, considered so rare in Goa is an emerging threat. Unidentified strains of viruses have emerged. Many are arthropod borne. A large number of children are reporting sick. Adult chicken pox has assumed epidemic proportions in certain areas of Bardez and Tiswadi. Water resources are drying up. People are suffering from dizziness, dehydration. Reduction in daily intake of water is an invitation to formation of kidney stones. People are bewildered. The sudden and drastic change is beyond their understanding. Everybody is complaining about abnormal weather pattern. The Indian meteorological department (IMD) is trying to seek some answers. It published an interesting bulletin-'report on high temperatures in January 2009' taking the note of the extreme temperature phenomena. It reported that during the last ten days of January 2009, particularly from 22nd of the month, a number of stations recorded high maximum temperatures ranging as high as 13 'C above normal. Commencing from 23rd of the month, during the respective days in succession, 21, 39, 44, 32, 13, 25, 29, 25 and 13 stations spread across India had recorded temperatures which were above the normal by 5 'C or more. Several stations had recorded abnormally above normal temperatures, surpassing the past records of extreme maximum temperatures. Republic Day in Allahabad was warmest since 1934 and for Pune warmest since 1938. Although IMD has provided some explanations it has failed to look at similar global trends and link these with global warming and consequent local impacts of climate change. Despite an abundance of information on deleterious effects of high temperatures on public health, IMD has also failed to network with public health authorities for issuing regular, prominent 'extreme weather warnings.' In fact based on 125 years of records, the climate scientists reported January 2009 as seventh warmest month. Unexpectedly the optimistic models of climate change seem unreliable. Christopher Field, founding director of the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University, told scientists that the emissions from burning fossil fuels since 2000 have largely outpaced the estimates used in the UN panel's 2007 reports. Coming to February, the trend has surprisingly continued raising the fears of a premature arrival of a runaway green house effect. East coast of USA and Canada reported warmest February. Much away from Goa, Shanghai, China reported a warm February. Same trend was seen in Australia and New Zealand. Melbourne, Australia reached 46.4 degrees in February, the highest in 154 years of record-keeping. For the past decade the daily maximum temperature in February has shown a rising trend in Goa. It has been hovering around 35 to 38. Once it crosses the threshold of 40 degrees in the coming summer (March to May) many effects would be seen. Overheated soils would lose bound moisture and turn hard. Plants would face terrible water stress. That would increase demand for artificial irrigation. Insects would proliferate. Termite attacks would increase phenomenally. Water levels in reservoirs would fall rapidly. Village wells would dry prematurely. Deterioration of drinking water quality may cause emergence of gastrointestinal diseases. Higher temperature would release new strains of pathogenic bacteria and viruses, which are otherwise passive at normal temperatures. Physicians in Bangalore were surprised to detect cases of viral conjunctivitis in February. Generally these are found in June. Heat wave would stress the infants and children. It would be dangerous to send them out in the afternoon. They need to be protected against dehydration, skin and respiratory ailments. People would have to avoid food from roadside vendors. March to May are also the months for various examinations. Parents would have to take special care of their children appearing for major examinations. Heat stress depresses interest in studies. Simple diet, maintaining electrolyte balance in body, good rest and avoiding exposure to sun would be essential to protect the health of the students. The government would have to augment public water supply immediately considering the heat wave. As the supply dries up the demand would continue to increase. Extravagant waste of water needs to be curbed. Only short spells of showers may bring some relief. Such showers were witnessed in first week of April last year. It was also an event signaling climate change. The public health department officials need to constantly monitor the changing weather conditions without waiting for guidelines from central government, the WHO, UNICEF or UNEP. Morbidity and mortality related to heat stress, need to be identified specifically. Diagnostic machinery has to be strengthened to aid rapid differential analysis of new pathogens or viral strains. Goa does not have a system for formal education of the public regarding the impact of climate change on their lives and livelihood. With no reversal of climate change in sight for centuries, all that we can do is to get informed in advance and be prepared to face the worst. An unusually warm summer would teach us certain adaptation strategies. These would be useful to deal with extreme weather phenomena in future. The society needs to take special care of the vulnerable and weaker sections incapable of withstanding the onslaught of climate change. The coming heat wave wou ----------------------------------------- THE NAVHIND TIMES 23/02/09 page 10 ---------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ GOA CIVIC AND CONSUMER ACTION NETWORK ------------------------------------------------------------ promoting civic and consumer rights in Goa --------------------------------------------------- GOACAN Post Box 187 Margao, Goa 403 601 GOACAN Post Box 78 Mapusa, Goa 403 507 mail: [email protected] --------------------------------------------------- __._,_.___
