The Union Ministry of Earth Sciences is trying to introduce decadal change projections in sea level till 2095, according to Secretary to the department Shailesh Nayak.
Inaugurating a conference on water resources, coastal and ocean engineering at NIT(K) here on Thursday, Mr. Nayak said these were important projections, the impact of which needed to be understood on different aspects including coastal environment. He said one had to explain how it will impact our social system and human system. Already the first level projections containing information about decadal changes in temperature and rainfall till 2095 were available, he added.
Rainfall
He expressed concern that changes in the rainfall patters — the country was receiving more heavy rainfall though average rainfall was static — could affect groundwater resources in the long run. Inter-linking of rivers also needed better understanding as change of land use would affect flow of water to oceans which too affected groundwater recharge patterns, Mr. Nayak observed.
His Ministry’s major programme was to provide data regarding changing water cycles for evolving strategy for the future.
Stating that human beings will, in future, depend more on ocean than on land for resources, nickel and cobalt in particular, he said that a large amount of work was needed to evolve deepwater technology to mine them.
The issues related to providing water for ecosystems and appropriate allocation of water needed to be addressed as distribution of water resources was changing from year to year and from regional to region.
Glaciers as a water source also needed to be understood better as they too were vulnerable to climate change.
Usha Natesan, Professor, Centre for Water Resources and Director Centre for Research, Anna University, Chennai, spoke at the event.
