'Change to avoid climate change'

This was because of the aridity of the North Karnataka regions, which made the state, the second driest place in the country, Prof N H Ravindranath, Department of Sustainable Technologies, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), said here on Wednesday.

He called upon the state authorities and citizens to gear up for a change in lifestyle in order to minimise global warming, thereby help reduce the effects of the same on Karnataka. “We have to take measures with or without climate change,” he said.

Ravindranath was discussing what the Copenhagen Climate Summit entailed for India and Karnataka, at a press conference organised by Bangalore Climate Change Initiative, Karnataka (BCCIK) here.

He called for an urgent shift to renewable energy, as the state faced an acute shortage of coal, which is currently being imported on a large scale.

Further, while discussing the new science of climate change since the 2007 Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IIPC) report, he said, “Global warming will be higher than IPCC projected and there will be higher levels of adverse impacts on food production, water supply and biodiversity.” Research has now proved that higher levels of Carbon-di-oxide (C02) emission reduction is required to stabilise global warming below two degree celsius, he added.

Plans for the State

Continuing with efforts to integrate climate change and development activities into a common framework and implement an integrated climate change policy, the BCCIK has established a climate hub at Institute of Economic and Social Change (ISEC) to study  the impact of climate change at local level all agro-climatic zones of Karnataka.

University of Agricultural Sciences is also conducting a workshop for a general assessment of climate change on agriculture with a special focus on impact of chemical fertilisers. Awareness campaigns on climate change will also be held in the second week of January headed by former Minister B K Chandrashekar.

He said that the campaign will involve Panchayat Raj institutions, local municipalities, NGOs and the state planning commission. The advocacy campaign will talk about the efficient use of energy and water and will also discuss methane emissions arising from standing water, used for cultivation of paddy and sugarcane.

A task force is also expected to set up in association with Mangalore University to study the rise of water levels in coastal areas due to global warming.