Frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones is impacted by the Climate Change, Akhilesh Gupta, advisor and head of Climate Change Programme of Department of Science and Technology (DST), has said.
Mr. Akhilesh Gupta was earlier secretary University Grants Commission. He is also the advisor to the Prime Minister on Climate Change and heading a team that is working on improving the quality of research in the country. He is a strong votary of collaborative research and has been advocating collaboration between academic institutions and laboratories. The DST is working on the formation of a national network on coastal vulnerability which would comprise all stakeholders, including universities, research institutions, governmental organisations, non-governmental organisations and media, to create awareness on the risk on climate change on the coastal areas.
The climate change not only increases the frequency and intensity of cyclones, but also the associated storm surge and rise in sea levels. This affects the lives of the poor fishers, , he told The Hindu here on the sidelines of a lecture organised by the GITAM Institute of Science.
There is a need to increase awareness on various steps to be taken to minimise the potential damage by vagaries of nature, he said and called for revival of coastal eco-systems including mangroves. For this there is a need for dissemination of results of research on the subject among all the stakeholders, including fishermen. Media plays an instrumental role in dissemination of knowledge and awareness on the subject has to be created among the members of the media, he said.
Many fishermen depend on conventional communication methods for weather warnings which is not practical in today’s world, he said .
Research organisations and universities and departments based on the coast would be networked to share fruits of research and to disseminate among the stakeholders, he said.
