Climate Change and Weather Forecasting Issues in UP

What the official syllabus says

UPPCS Main Examination, General Studies VI.

Climate Change and Weather Forecasting issues in UP.

Topics in detail

Climate change is studied here for its effects on UP and the state's response; weather forecasting for how warnings reach farmers and the public. Keep the science basic and the examples local.

Climate change: basics

• Greenhouse effect, greenhouse gases and global warming
• Observed changes: rising temperatures, more variable monsoon, more extreme events
• International framework: UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement and India's nationally determined contributions
• India's National Action Plan on Climate Change (2008) and its national missions

Effects on UP

• Agriculture: heat stress on wheat at grain filling, changes in rainfall affecting kharif sowing, new pests
• Water: changes in river flows, more droughts in Bundelkhand, more intense floods in the east
• Health: heat waves, vector-borne diseases, effects of air pollution
• Livelihoods: the poor, small farmers and outdoor workers as the most vulnerable
• Urban heat islands in large cities
• Extreme events: heat waves, cold waves, lightning, hailstorms, unseasonal rain

UP's response

• The Uttar Pradesh State Action Plan on Climate Change and its revisions
• Adaptation: climate-resilient crops and varieties, crop insurance, water conservation, heat action plans
• Mitigation: renewable energy, energy efficiency, tree planting, electric vehicles, cleaner fuels
• Climate change and the state's disaster management plans
• Carbon finance and green budgeting

Climate-smart farming in UP

• Zero tillage and the happy seeder for wheat after rice
• Direct seeded rice and alternate wetting and drying to save water and cut methane
• Laser land levelling and micro-irrigation
• Heat-tolerant and early wheat varieties; timely sowing
• Crop diversification towards millets and pulses in dry areas
• Carbon sinks: forests, wetlands and soil organic carbon

Weather forecasting

• The India Meteorological Department and its Meteorological Centre at Lucknow
• Kinds of forecast: nowcast, short, medium and extended range, seasonal
• Tools: weather satellites, Doppler weather radars, automatic weather stations, numerical weather prediction
• Colour-coded warnings (green, yellow, orange, red) and impact-based forecasting
• Agro-meteorological advisories to farmers through the Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa and mobile apps (Meghdoot, Mausam, Damini for lightning)
• Early warning of floods (Central Water Commission) and heat waves

Forecasting issues

• Accuracy of local forecasts, especially for thunderstorms and lightning
• Dense network of stations needed for a large state
• Last-mile communication of warnings to villages
• Use of forecasts in decisions by farmers and officials
• The Uttar Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority and its use of warnings

Overlaps

Disaster mitigation and management for India are in General Studies III; the climate of UP on Geography of UP: Location, Relief, Structure and Climate.