“The Mercury is Rising”, Warns Lord Hunt

“If we want to reverse rising global temperatures in the next 30 to 40 years we need to act now,’’ warned climate change expert Lord Prof. Julian Hunt. A former Director-General and Chief Executive of the UK Meteorological Office, Prof. Hunt was speaking at Institute Colloquium organised by IIT Bombay on Developments in Weather and Climate Prediction, on 21st March 2005.  Climate change is clearly here to stay unless all countries get moving to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, says Prof. Hunt, who is Professor of Climate Modelling,

the science of predicting climate change by using mathematical models based on existing scientific data. “More extreme weather is likely, according to our computer modelling,’’ says Prof. Hunt, adding that in the next 50 years temperatures are likely to shoot up globally by up to four degrees celsius, a huge increase. 

In India, the likely effects include the shrinking of the Himalayan glaciers that feed northern rivers, while rising sea temperatures could also lead to the destruction of coral reefs, making coastal areas even more vulnerable to cyclones, floods and tsunamis, says Prof. Hunt.

The monsoon could be drastically affected, he says. Rather than regular rain over several months, fewer but more intense showers are likely. It will have a strong impact on agriculture. Although a developing country like India’s carbon dioxide emissions are small compared to those of more industrialised nations like the US, Prof. Hunt says that India is well placed to exploit more energy efficient, less polluting ways of generating power in local communities rather than depending on a national power grid.

Prof. Hunt cited the example of Woking, a town in southern Britain where the local council has acquired its own combined heat and power plant. Woking now generates its own power, which is 20% cheaper than electricity in the rest of Britain, and carbon dioxide emission is lower than traditional power plants.

Just as rural areas in India have embraced mobile telephones, bypassing the need for telephone wires and landlines, Prof. Hunt says, power generation could also become localised.