TS temp to rise by 4oC in years ahead

Urban areas to face tougher problems as they have fewer resources at disposal

Climate change, when it happens in the city, would be exacerbated by the many challenges that plague metropolises in the country, says a paper by National Geographic.

The city, which is already under stress from climate-influenced events, will face problems as it has fewer resources at its disposal, it said.

“These differences in resilience are likely to persist in the future. Rich countries or cities with stable governments are theoretically better equipped to adapt to increasing challenges than resource-poor places,” the paper said.

It said the consequences of a variable climate would be massive for the farming sector, “the haphazard rise in temperatures affecting agriculture as well as allied industries of poultry, dairy and fisheries,” said S. Naresh Kumar, principal scientist at the Centre for Environment Science and Climate Resilient Agriculture of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute.

Going by the current models, the average monthly temperatures in Telangana will rise by nearly 4º Celsius in the coming decades. The minimum temperatures will rise more than the maximum temperatures, he noted.

As a result of the higher temperatures, the air that will have the capability to hold more moisture when compared to colder air. More moisture translates to more rainfall in cyclonic systems. It has been forecast that for every 1º Celsius rise in the temperature, the air can enhance its moisture holding capability by seven pe cent.

Projections made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) show that global warming would increase temperatures by up to 5ºC. This would mean that there would be a 35 per cent increase in moisture content of atmospheric systems by the end of the century.