Climate change talks bring focus on State

Expressbuzz, Dec 10, 2009
BHUBANESWAR: The Copenhagen summit on climate change has brought to focus the vulnerability of Orissa particularly as it has embarked on a path that entails development through fast paced industrialisation. For, the State is highly prone to climatic aberrations and in the last 105 years as many as 95 have been declared disaster affected.


Consider this. Orissa had a share of 2.5 per cent in India’s GDP in mining in 1982, moving up by one per cent after a decade in 1992. Four years later it was up by another two per cent. Correspondingly, the annual mean maximum temperatures in the mine-rich districts that were around 30-31 degree Celsius in 1991-92 rose by 2-3 degree Celsius to 32-34 C in 1997.

The rise was not limited to the mine-rich regions only.

A glance at the district-wise annual mean maximum temperatures reveal much more. In all districts, it kept hovering at around 30-34 degree Celsius till 95-96, only since 1996-97 the temperatures scaled up by 2-3 C across the State. In 1998 the annual mean temperatures were measured at around 33 C for the coastal and southern belt and around 36-38 C in the western and mine-rich belts.

In 1999, the Super Cyclone year, the annual mean maximum temperatures for the districts like Kalahandi, Koraput, Kandhamal and Nabarangpur had dipped below 30 C, and for the coastal and mining belt it was over 35 C.

The year 2001 showed wide fluctuation with Koraput, Kalahandi, Kandhamal and Nabarangpur recording annual mean maximum temperatures of just 11 C but it is over 35 C in the rest of Orissa. Thus, notwithstanding wide fluctuations in some regions, the mean temperature across has risen by over 1-2 C in Orissa since 1991. And, a warmer Orissa is on account of increased green house gas emissions - carbon dioxide and methane - due to industrialisation and intensive farming.

A Union Government study has noted that, since soils in Orissa are rich in SOC (soil organic carbon), they are prone to emit more GHGs raising the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) by as high as 30 per cent. The study advocated the need of nitrogen management plus water management to curb the emission levels. As of 2005, industries in Orissa had emitted 164 MT of CO2 adding 40 MT CO2 annually.

Steel is the third largest emitter of GHGs in India. So, by 2012, the CO2 emissions could cross 200 MT. The need is for promoting cleaner steel technologies in Orissa. Also, major cities led by Bhubaneswar add more GHGs owing to increased use of air-conditioners, refrigerators and other appliances.

But Orissa is yet to take cognizance even as other states have mooted plans to curb city GHGs.