Timely available data crucial for variable monsoon, climatic changes adaptation: Amin

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 14 (APP):Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam on Thursday said, in time data availability was helpful in adaptation to highly variable monsoon and climate change impacts in the region that were insurmountable in terms of its magnitude and destruction.

He was addressing the closing ceremony of the three-day training workshop on “Monsoon Variability and Extremes In a Changing Climate”, organised by the Global Change Impact Studies Centre (GCISC) in collaboration with the Asia Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN) that was participated by Bangladesh, China, Pakistan and Nepal, in a video message.

Amin said Pakistan was among the top ten countries most affected due to climate change since the past many years and was considered among the highly impacted nations due to environmental degradation.

“The variability or rapidly changing monsoon and climate change are causing major impacts on the country.

The GCISC research work is commendable that helped reporting monsoon change linked to environmental degradation,” the SAPM said.

He informed that keeping in view the shifting weather patterns, the Ministry of Climate Change has started implementing Climate Smart Agriculture in eight districts of Punjab and Sindh aimed at enabling the farmers to adapt with climate variability.

Director Admin and Finance, GCISC Dr Arif Goheer, on the occasion, said in time information was necessary for the country’s agriculture based economy relying on water whereas the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report had clearly indicated bleak impacts of global warming on water and monsoon.

He added that the GCISC had a dedicated sector on Climate Change research and data collection that dealt with climatic change and seasonal forecast.

Dr Goheer also thanked APN for their all out support in the project’s implementation.

He lauded the equal and overwhelming participation of female researchers and students in the workshop. “The academic institutions share equal role in providing data and research.

I hope that your data do not rust on the book shelves rather help sustainable development in the backdrop of monsoon variability,” he urged the participants.

Senior Research Officer, GCISC Dr Shaukat Ali presented a detailed overview of the workshop and thanked the collaborating partners for making the workshop a success.

He told that some 565 applications were received from various students and researchers, where only 40 of them were selected for participation from across the country. “GCISC invited 60 percent female candidates to maintain gender parity in the workshop as per the project demand,” he added.

While sharing insights of the GCISC studies shared at the workshop, he said the monsoon and temperature shifts were severe in the country as the monsoon patterns were shifting towards the North with the 1.5-2 degree Celsius temperature rise coming soon to the region.

The foreign trainers from Bangladesh and Brazil Dr Mizan ur Rheman and Ms Michelle apprised the participants on various matters and thanked the GCISC. The Director GCISC also distributed certificates among the trainers, resource persons and participants.

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