polar vortex :Are we ready?

polar vortex :Are we ready?

 
When parts of the United States of America (USA) froze over due to the polar vortex recently, the world watched, fascinated, awed and somewhat unaffected. Most conveniently forgot the extreme weather conditions that they would have faced in their own countries.

At times of extreme environmental conditions of fire, snow, rain, floods, storm, hurricanes, droughts, extreme heat (think Australia this January) and so on and so forth, the rampaging weather in any country brings into focus the oft asked question – is it due to climate change?  
 
Some scientists beg to differ. Geologists bring forth arguments such as the Anthropocene saying that we are approaching the human epoch - a departure from the Earth’s operating system, the first in almost 12,000 years.
Call it what you will, the time for proactive measures is now.
 
Facing the future 
A significant change in the distribution of weather patterns, including increases in global temperature, changes in rainfall patterns, changing the character of seasons and increasing the likelihood of extreme events such as flash floods, droughts and cyclones is what climate change generally means to tropical countries such as Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka has already witnessed climate change effects.  According to scientists, Sri Lanka being an island nation situated close to the equator is more vulnerable to changes in temperature, floods, landslides, extended droughts causing water shortages; hence crop losses and destruction of natural resources are now becoming more and more frequent.
 
At the International Conference on Climate Change Impacts and Adaptations on Environment and Food Security held in 2013, the urgent need to develop and implement a national plan to prepare the communities to meet the challenges of climate change was stressed.
 
The consensus was that while mitigating efforts should continue to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, it is most important to build the adaptive capacity and reduce the vulnerability of natural resources and communities. 
The most pertinent question that needs to be asked is how long will it take before we kick start adaptability measures in the face of oncoming climatic changes?
 
Streamlining needed
Plenty of research is being undertaken by several national research institutions, development agencies and universities on various topics related to climate change, but they are scattered and uncoordinated. The International Conference on Climate Change Impacts and Adaptations on Environment and Food Security 2013 recommended that these research projects should be listed under a national research agenda and conducted as multidisciplinary programmes. This in turn should be linked to the implementing agency of the national climate adaptation strategy, the Ministry of Environment and Renewable Energy for critical analysis and effective dissemination of the findings.
 
Sri Lanka already has the framework in place for climate change adaptations – for example, with regard to food security, The Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources have already identified biotechnology is an important area for development in Sri Lanka in the National Report of Sri Lanka,2002. 
It remains to be seen whether the recommendations of all the research undertaken on the subject will see the light of day. Same goes for the adaptations noted in the framework already in place. Hopefully, all of this will take place before it’s too late.

By Apsara Perera
Ceylon Today Features