While the earth undergoes natural climatic oscillations over tens of thousands of years, the temperature rise after 1950 is solely due to increasing levels of carbon dioxide, as a result of which atmospheric temperature has risen by one degree Celsius since, according to J. Srinivasan, founder chairman of Divecha Centre for Climate Change (DCCC) at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).
The consequences of rising temperature could be drastic, as a four-degree rise will sink a lot of coastal Indian cities, including Kochi, in the sea, he warned.
He was participating in a two-day programme on climate change and environment organised for high school students at Bhavan’s Vidyamandir, Elamakkara, on Friday. DCCC chairman S.K. Satheesh spoke about how aerosols (a suspension of fine particles in air) affected climate. “We learnt about how aerosols erode our atmosphere,” said Anna Paulin, a Class 10 student who was in the audience. “That water vapour is the main greenhouse gas was also new to me,” she added.
ADVERTISEMENT
A.A. Mohamed Hatha of the department of marine biology, microbiology and biochemistry at the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) shared his experiences of being part of an expedition to the Arctic. A quiz contest on climate science was also held as part of the event.
“The talks were interesting and will help students of class 12,” said Teresita Shoba Anthony, biology instructor at Assissi Vidya Niketan Public School at Chembumukku. The organisers said the objective of the programme was to create awareness among students about the dangers posed by climate change.
Students of Class 12 from various schools will attend the event on Saturday, and M.C. Dathan, scientific adviser to the Chief Minister, is slated to address them.
ADVERTISEMENT