INVC NEWS
New Delhi,
The Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu has called upon scientists and researchers to address pressing issues such as climate change, global warming and extreme weather events so that the world was better prepared to tackle adverse situations.
Interacting with scientists and young researchers of the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL) near Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh today, he said that weather and climate were posing new challenges with each passing day.
Shri Naidu said: “We are experiencing global warming and its effects in the form of extreme weather, cyclonic storms, intense thunderstorms, torrential rain, and droughts. Changing weather and climate patterns also affect our agriculture and economy”.
Referring to challenges like an increase in high impact weather systems, water scarcity, drying up of rivers, growing pollution and survival threat to several animal and plant species due to climate change, he said that it was highly imperative for scientists and researchers to address these issues.
Exhorting the scientists to work on state-of-the-art observational instruments to generate high-quality data on climate models suitable for India’s tropical climate, the Vice President cautioned them to guard against erroneous results generated by data from elsewhere and called for accurate assessment and prediction.
The Indian subcontinent has distinct climatic zones and their interaction with global climate patterns needs to be studied on a priority basis for our long term well-being, he added.
Pointing out that India has been an active member in the climate action plan right from the formation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change through to the latest Paris Accord, Shri Naidu said that in order to make a meaningful contribution to the climate action plan, there was a need for quality scientific data from all over the country and the globe.
Complimenting ISRO and Department of Space for establishing a world-class laboratory for experimental atmospheric science and numerical, the Vice President wanted the establishment of similar atmospheric research facilities in important climatic regions which have sparse or non-existent observations in the country.
Stressing the need to promote scientific temper from a young age, Shri Naidu asked NARL to produce literature on atmospheric science in a simplified manner for the benefit of school students.
The Vice President called upon scientists to focus on accurately predicting the atmospheric behavior and in addressing various challenges from climate change to poverty alleviation.
The National Atmospheric Research Laboratory is an autonomous Research Institute funded by the Department of Space of the Government of India. NARL is engaged in fundamental and applied research in the field of Atmospheric Sciences.
Earlier, the Vice President visited the MST Radar facility, Rayleigh Doppler Lidar and the High Performance Computation Facility and Data Center at the NARL.
The Director, NARL, Dr. A.K. Patra, the In-Charge Director, Dr. T.V.C. Sharma, several Scientists and Researchers and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
