'Climate change a great challenge for environment and economy', says ISRO chairman

Climate change is a major issue which is impacting environment and economy and is a great challenge facing the world, ISRO chairman A S Kiran Kumar said. “Climatic change is no longer a scientific curiosity but a great challenge facing us as an environmental issue impacting economy, livelihood, health safety, agriculture, food production and many other dimensions,” Kumar said at the second convocation of Assam Kaziranga University in Jorhat, Assam.

Shifting weather patterns threaten food production through increased unpredictability of precipitation, rising sea levels, contaminated coastal fresh water and reserves, and increase the risk of catastrophic flooding and a warming atmosphere, the space scientist said. The north-eastern region is prone to natural disasters like flood, landslide, thunderstorm, drought and forest fire, he said.

In order to improve weather forecast services, including flood forecast and thunderstorms, ISRO’s North Eastern Space Application Centre at Shillong has developed innovative techniques under its Flood Early Warning System project involving the regional climate modelling centre, Guwahati.

The scope of this project has been extended to flood-prone areas in the north-eastern states and it has proved very helpful in managing floods in Assam. Kaziranga University conferred honorary doctorate degrees to the ISRO chairman and sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan.

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