Ban on agro-chemicals seen as jeopardising SL’s agricultural sector
“Sri Lanka will experience climate change issues in temperature, rainfall, evaporation and sea level rises in the future. The ban on agro -chemicals puts the entire country into a difficult scenario, immediate past president National Agribusiness Council Aruna Weerakoon said.
“This will affect a range of sectors, such as agricultural production, including export crops, in the future. Ban of agro- chemicals without a proper plan has resulted in a reduction of agricultural crop production, including commercial and export crops, Weerakoon told The Island Financial Review.”The entire agriculture sector will be impacted on account of changing weather patterns and climate. But with the increase in temperature, pest control becomes a major issue for farmers and the ban on pest control chemicals in the market adds insult to injury, Weerakoon said. “Water resources planning, development and management are essential for sustainable climate adaptation in Sri Lanka but due to a lack of knowledge on the part of farmers and a lack of funds/finance among them, the entire sector will likely be plunged into a major crisis, he said.
“Urgent action is needed to ensure Sri Lanka is better prepared to address future climate conditions, including anticipated extremes of flooding and drought, he added. Weerakoon said that when the temperature level goes up, pests become a real problem but, unfortunately, our farmers don’t have powerful chemicals to arrest the situation. Therefore, this would result in lower agricultural productivity in the country.
According to research presented at a recent conference, primary climate change effects on water resources include increased temperatures, changes in annual rainfall, changes in monsoon seasonality, increased variability and sea level rises.
Weerakoon explained that to feed the population, the commercial agriculture sector should be streamlined to withstand climate changes. “This could be done by introducing modern technology, like greenhouses, to the sector,” he said.
He said that surface and groundwater quality in coastal areas is also likely to be impacted, affecting important drinking water supplies including water to the agriculture sector.
This, in turn, will result in secondary effects, like increased transpiration, changes in river flows, groundwater recharge, snow and glacial melt.
Water resources planning key for sustainable climate adaptation in SA: experts
An international conference on climate change and water resources management has concluded that urgent action is needed to ensure South Asia is better prepared to address future climate conditions, including anticipated extremes of flooding and drought.
Part of the World Bank-led South Asia Water Initiative (SAWI), the conference saw participation from over 65 water resource and climate change experts, scientists and policy makers from seven South Asian countries- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – as well as China. Speaking at the opening session, Guest of Honour Dr. SarathAmunugama, Minister for Special Assignments in the Government of Sri Lanka said, “This seminar comes at a very important time, almost all countries represented here face crises of some sort as a consequences of climate change.“
According to research undertaken by IWMI scientists, many areas of Sri Lanka will experience future changes in temperature, rainfall, evaporation and sea level rise. This will affect a range of sectors, including agricultural production of important export crops. Surface and groundwater quality in coastal areas is also likely to be impacted affecting important drinking water supplies. Participants agreed that coordinated responses across all sectors can help to reduce the impacts of changing weather patterns on key sectors, urban centres and the country’s substantial natural heritage.
Three scientific papers presented at the conference highlighted the pressing need for action amid the uncertainty surrounding future water access and availability. Underscoring the need for solutions that can adapt to change and are therefore more responsive to uncertain decision-making environments, Professor Casey Brown from the University of Massachusetts Amherst presented the decision tree framework supported by the World Bank. This framework informs planning of water resources infrastructure using examples from hydropower planning in Nepal and water supply planning in Kenya.
Professor Aris Georgakakos from Georgia Water Resources Institute presented an integrated river basin planning approach used for the Rufiji basin in Tanzania under the World Bank Water Sector Support Project which emphasized smart approaches to develop “no regrets” solutions benefiting communities, agriculture and energy sectors, business and the natural environment,as well as integrating climate change implications.
Other notable experts included Professor Mohan Munasinghe, one of Sri Lanka’s most senior researchers on climate change and a member of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Highlighting the vulnerability of South Asia to climatic fluctuations, he stressed the importance of managing water resources in a manner consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals, suggesting the need for a Sustainable Water Resources Management approach, ‘SWARM’.
Climate change is likely to profoundly impact water supply and demand as well as increase extreme events, such as floods and droughts, underscoring the need for developing effective policy frameworks as well as practical adaptation responses. According to Dr. Rafik Hirji, the World Bank Team leader, “Governments in the region who haven’t yet mandated integrated water resources management (IWRM) are urged to step up efforts to formulate and implement those policies and those with policies in place need to elevate attention to their implementation. Effective planning, development and management of surface and groundwater will be key to ensuring that the resource is protected, conserved, secured and utilized optimally for the benefit of all South Asians.”
Experts voted on series of potential next steps including practical initiatives on public education and awareness raising, initiatives on flood early warning and on climate adaptation and groundwater, ways of addressing ‘non-water’ sectors effectively in tackling water governance challenges and building more substantial regional data and knowledge sharing and capacity building through establishing a community of practice.
The conference was followed by a field visit on July 14,organized by the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources Management to areas north of Colombo recently affected by flooding along the Kelani River, and where flood response measures are being undertaken by the government.
World Bank supports Sri Lanka water management to adapt to climate risks
The World Bank will help the Sri Lankan government to develop its water management institutions to adapt to the challenges posed by climate change, a senior official said.
The south Asian region is subject to extremes of floods and droughts which will worsen with climate change, said Rolande Pryce, Operations Advisor in the Colombo office of the World Bank Group.
These climate events will threaten water resources, agriculture and many coastal cities, she told a regional forum of scientists and policy makers from across South Asia in Colombo to discuss how water management can better respond to future climate adaptation needs. Risks are increasing sharply with climate change, Pryce said, noting how floods have ravaged the capital Colombo at least five times in the last 10 years.
“Climate change risks and water management are strongly linked in Sri Lanka,” Pryce said.
The 2017-20 World Bank country program identifies water resources development and management as continuing priorities for Sri Lanka in the light of increasing climate-related risks, she said.
The World Bank has several programs supporting Sri Lanka’s water sector including those for dam safety and water resources planning, urban flood control in Colombo and key secondary cities like Kandy, Galle and Jaffna, and water supply and sanitation. “In future, we will help the government to develop water management institutions to adapt to the challenges brought about by climate change risks,” Pryce said. Rising sea levels will also put more pressure on ground water resources, Pryce told the forum, organised by the International Water Management Institute and the World Bank, through the South Asia Water Initiative (SAWI) Technical Assistance as a follow-up to the global climate agreement in Paris in December 2015.
Mass bleaching of Sri Lanka coral reefs
Higher than normal ocean temperatures off Sri Lanka’s coast is threatening to damage the best coral reefs in the island, according to surveys done by marine scientists of the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA).
“Underwater surveys shows widespread bleaching or whitening along the reefs, especially in shallow depths (of less than 10 meters) in the south and south west coast and also reported in Jaffna and Bar Reef in Kalpitiya,” a statement said.
NARA scientists diving on the reefs said huge areas of previously pristine reefs they have seen in Unawatuna, Weligama, Mirissa and Polhena are being turned into barren white.
All signs point to a repeat of a similar bleaching event in 1997/1998 which saw over 50 per cent of some reefs in Sri Lanka being destroyed, NARA said.
“Coral bleaching events have been increasing in both frequency and extent worldwide in the resent past years. Global climate change may play a role in the increase in coral bleaching events.”
NARA said the intolerable heat experienced over the past months is being blamed for the coral bleaching, which experts fear could be worse than in 1997/1998.
According to Mark Eakin, co-ordinator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Coral Reef Watch, the bleaching is very strong throughout south east Asia and the central Indian Ocean.
“Increased ocean temperatures due to climate change, combined with the warming effects of an El Niño pattern are driving temperatures to record levels and threatening to severely deplete the coral reef ecosystems that support fish habitats, shoreline protection and coastal economies mainly through fisheries and tourism,” he said.
Many of the reefs affected by the 1998 El Niño have made at least partial recoveries, NARA said.
“However, even when reefs do recover, old growth corals that may have taken centuries to mature are often replaced with faster growing species that quickly colonize large areas, homogenizing the ecosystem.”
Bleaching of coral reef may result in changes in diversity, with more sensitive coral species gradually being replaced by more tolerant ones, reducing the biodiversity of the coral reef.
(Source :13/06/2016 : Economy Next http://www.economynext.com/Mass_bleaching_of_Sri_Lanka_coral_reefs-3-5226-13.html)
10 reasons to be optimistic for forests
It’s easy to be pessimistic about the state of the world’s forests.
Yet all hope is not lost. There are remain good reasons for optimism when it comes to saving the world’s forests.
On the occasion of World Environment Day 2016 (June 5), the United Nations’ “day” for raising awareness and encouraging action to protect the planet, here are 10 forest-friendly trends to watch.
It’s easy to be pessimistic about the state of the world’s forests. Rates of forest loss remain persistently high, especially in the tropics and boreal regions. Drought, fragmentation, degradation via logging, and climate change are conspiring to make forests more vulnerable to fire: vast areas of forest went up in smoke across Canada, Russia, the United States, Indonesia, Brazil, and the Congo Basin in the past two years alone. Expanding human population and rising meat consumption are fueling a global land rush across much of the tropics. And while Brazil’s political crisis is threatening to undermine a decade’s worth of progress in curbing forest destruction, the prospect of Americans electing a president who intends to shred international climate commitments and calls for the embrace of the dirtiest of fossil fuels is downright terrifying for many environmentalists.
Yet all hope is not lost. There are remain good reasons for optimism when it comes to saving the world’s forests. On the occasion of World Environment Day 2016 (June 5), the United Nations’ “day” for raising awareness and encouraging action to protect the planet, here are 10 forest-friendly trends to watch.
1: Rising influence of activists
Over the past 30-40 years, drivers of deforestation have changed. Instead of most deforestation being caused by small farmers producing food for themselves and local markets, today deforestation in the tropics is primarily driven by commodity production for urban markets and export. That means corporations — through their supply chains — are ultimately linked to a greater share of deforestation than ever before. A byproduct of this shift is corporations have become a prime target for activists pushing for more forest-friendly sourcing practices. Indeed, campaigns byenvironmentalists have begun to transform how entire sectors go about producing, trading, and sourcing their commodities. The soy industry in the Brazilian Amazon was the first sector in 2006 to mandate zero deforestation. It was followed by similar commitments from major cattle players in the Amazon (2009), a number of palm oil companies (2010 to present), and the Indonesian pulp and paper industry (2013-2015). Other sectors are coming on board as well, with companies like McDonalds and Cargill pledging to cut deforestation out of supply chains ranging from coffee to cacao.
2: Corporate commitments and action
In response to environmental groups — and increasingly shareholders and local governments — companies are changing their practices. Since 2010, scores of companies have adopted “zero deforestation” policies that set social and environmental safeguards for their commodity sourcing. These range from consumer-facing companies based in the United States and Europe to multinational bulk commodity traders to in-country growers and producers. Critics rightly note that the commitment phase is much easier than the implementation phase, but words are starting to be put into action. And new technological tools are helping improve transparency around company supply chains.
3: Harnessing technology for good
In the early 2000s, Brazil was losing forest in the Amazon at a rate of 23,000 square kilometers — an area larger than Belize or the state of New Jersey — annually. In 2004, the South American country implemented a satellite-based deforestation monitoring system that enabled authorities to see where forest was being cleared on a monthly basis. Since then, the annual rate of clearing in the Brazilian Amazon has fallen 80 percent. Analysis suggests that the biggest factor in driving deforestation downwards was the satellite system, which increased transparency around forest use. Since then, technologies have only improved. Global Forest Watch, a tool developed by World Resources Institute, effectively extends Brazil’s system across the tropics, allowing near-real time monitoring of any forest. At the same time, near-surface and on-the-ground technologies ranging from camera traps to audio sensors to conservation drones have mushroomed. The proliferation of mobile phones have enabled virtually anyone to become an activist, whistleblower, or citizen journalist or scientist. Cell phones have also created unprecedented opportunities for once isolated groups and communities to connect, share knowledge, and mobilize against destructive projects.
4: Steps by governments
Like the private sector, governments seem to be taking forest issues more seriously than they did in the past. For example, the Norwegian government has committed billions toward tropical forest protection and even announced a zero deforestation procurement policy, while the U.S., European Union, and Australia have passed laws governing timber imports, attempting to close some of the loopholes that allow illegal timber imports. The crackdown on the ivory trade could help protect species with an important role in forest ecosystems: African and Asian elephants. In tropical nations,last year’s haze crisis has spurred Indonesia to pledge incredible steps to reform how forested land is used, including a peatlands restoration policy and a freeze on new palm oil concessions. If these measures are effectively implemented, it could reverse decades of forest degradation and destruction in Borneo and Sumatra.
5: Progress on climate change
Last year’s Paris agreement breathed new life into efforts to safeguard forests, which store hundreds of billions of tons of carbon. REDD+, a U.N.-led initiative that aims to create performance-based incentives for conserving forests, was one of the major advances in Paris. Curbing climate change would also help forests in other ways: models suggest warmer temperatures and increased CO2 levels heighten the risk of drought and tree die-off across large expanses of the tropics.
6: New leadership
While this topic was already touched on in point 4 above, it warrants its own call out. In the past, forest policy for tropical nations was often directed by governments and NGOs in the West, which increased animosity toward conservation, failed to stem rampant deforestation, and sometimes exacerbated on-the-ground conflict between local people and governments. However, that’s changing. Brazil has shown that it’s possible to disaggregate deforestation from economic growth, reducing deforestation in the Amazon 80 percent, while expanding agricultural production. That has offered a much more useful narrative for conservation efforts in countries like Indonesia that are prioritizing issues like rural poverty. Countries like Costa Rica (payments for ecosystem services) and Mexico (indigenous land rights) are pioneering new models that are informing policies in peer nations.
7: Traditional land rights
Two of the biggest trends in forest conservation in the past five years have been at opposite ends of the spectrum: corporate “zero deforestation” commitments and increasing recognition of the conservation value of securing land rights for forest-dependent communities, including indigenous peoples. The reason for the latter? A growing body of evidence indicating that locals do a better job of stewarding natural resources when their traditional management rights are recognized: deforestation in indigenous territories is often lower than in national parks. This recognition is now starting to happen in countries ranging from Mexico (an early leader) to Indonesia, where millions of hectares of state-owned land could potentially be turned over to indigenous control.
8: Commodity price reprieve
The global downturn in most commodities markets has stalled the massive run up in land prices in the tropics Ὰ at least temporarily. Despite a sustained rally in recent months, palm oil prices are trading at less than three-fifths their peak value of just a few years ago, while oil and gas prices remain far below early 2015 levels. Some conservationists say the commodity bust has bought time to purchase land for conservation or work to convince governments to create protected areas. Past declines have been when some commodity producers have adopted greener practices, including the soy moratorium and cattle agreement, to differentiate their product or remain competitive. Others are a bit less sanguine, arguing that reduced government revenue may spur cost-cutting for conservation or embolden industry to demand weakening of environmental laws.
9: Recognition of ecosystem services
The Paris Agreement re-ignited interest in forests for their carbon value, but broader recognition of the various services afforded by these ecosystems has been on the rise for years. Last year’s haze crisis sparked a crisis of conscience in Singapore, but also spurred awareness of the role Sumatra’s forests have in maintaining regional air quality. At the same time, Brazil’s severe drought awakened concern about the prospect of large-scale Amazon deforestation — combined with the effects of climate change — wreaking havoc on regional economies: power shortages from stalled hydropower stations, thirsty cities and empty reservoirs, parched farmlands, and transportation at a standstill due to dry riverbeds. And ever-improving science is showing that forest loss in the tropics can affect rainfall well beyond national borders — even across oceans. And yet we’re only beginning to understand what may hold the greatest value: biodiversity.
10: Restoration
Satellite imagery, better science, and growing interest in land-based solutions to mitigating climate change are spurring efforts to reverse some of the environmental damage inflicted on the planet in recent decades. The Bonn Challenge, established in 2011, aims to restore 150 million hectares of deforested and degraded lands by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030. While criticized by some as an wildly impossible target, countries are making significant commitments restore ecosystems, including more than 25 million hectares by governments and investors in Latin America. Perhaps the most ambitious goal was made by the Indonesian government in the aftermath of last year’s fire and haze crisis: no new planting of peatlands and restoration of all areas burned during the disaster.
Of course there are other things that should give forest fans reasons for hope: the continued expansion of protected areas, pressure from investors concerned about environmental performance, the mobilization of large amounts of money for forests by a new breed of philanthropists, and ongoing production of films and other media that showcase forests and the people and species that inhabit them.
Source : 08/06/2016- Mongaday (https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/10-reasons-to-be-optimistic-for-forests/
Don’t destroy our biological supermarkets
With the deluge continuing and hundreds of thousands of people seriously affected by the worst flood havoc in recent decades, we wish to focus attention today on how much the construction of housing schemes and other buildings on what were once wetlands or marshlands has contributed towards the calamity.
For instance in the suburbs of Colombo city, a wetland including an ancient stream was apparently bought at a lower price, covered up and luxury two storey houses built at a sale price of Rs. 20 million each. Last week the ground floors of most of those houses were covered by dirty or muddy flood water and the residents had to flee. Most of them are not likely to return. This is one of the many instances where houses or buildings in wetlands faced a catastrophe. Besides the take-over of wetlands, the Daily Mirror in its Editorial on Monday referred to the excessive or illegal rock blasting and sand mining which had been carried out on a large scale with political patronage for the last decade or more.
According to scientific analysts, when an area flooded with water, wetlands act like a giant sponge. This is because the living plants and even the dead plants can absorb the extra water. By doing this, wetlands also help slow down the movement of this water to surrounding areas where people may have houses. So, having wetlands in areas where there is regular flooding may save your houses.
Scientists say wetlands are important features in the landscape that provide numerous beneficial services for people, fish and wildlife. Some of these services, or functions, include protecting and improving water quality, providing fish and wildlife habitats, storing flood waters and maintaining surface water flow during dry seasons.
These valuable functions are the result of the rare natural characteristics of wetlands.Wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems in the world, comparable to rain forests and coral reefs. An immense variety of species of microbes, plants, insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish and mammals can be part of a wetland ecosystem. Scientists say the complex, dynamic relationships among the organisms inhabiting the wetland environment are called food webs.
Wetlands can be thought of as “biological supermarkets.” They provide great volumes of food that attract many animal species. These animals use wetlands for part of or all of their life-cycle. Dead plant leaves and stems break down in the water to form small particles of organic material called “detritus.” This enriched material feeds many small aquatic insects, shellfish and small fish that are food for larger predatory fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals. All these are destroyed when apartment complexes or other building are constructed on wetlands. The Government must stop this now as part of Sri Lanka’s contribution to the battle against climate change.
The functions of a wetland and the values of these functions to humans depend on a complex set of relationships between the wetland and the other ecosystems in the watershed. A watershed is a geographic area in which water, sediments and dissolved materials drain from higher elevations to a common low-lying outlet or basin a point on a larger stream, lake underlying aquifer or estuary.
Scientists believe wetlands play an integral role in the ecology of the watershed. The combination of shallow water, high levels of nutrients and primary productivity is ideal for the development of organisms that form the base of the food web and feed many species of fish, amphibians, shellfish and insects. Many species of birds and mammals rely on wetlands for food, water and shelter, especially during migration and breeding.
Wetlands’ microbes, plants and wildlife are part of the global cycles for water, nitrogen and sulphur. Scientists now know that atmospheric maintenance may be an additional wetlands function. Wetlands store carbon within their plant communities and soil instead of releasing it to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Thus wetlands help to moderate global climate conditions.
Far from being useless, disease-ridden places, wetlands provide values that no other ecosystem can. These include natural water quality improvement, flood protection, shoreline erosion control, opportunities for recreation and aesthetic appreciation and natural products for our use at no cost. Protecting wetlands can protect our safety and welfare
(Source: 24 May 2016 Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka) : http://www.dailymirror.lk/109920/Don-t-destroy-our-biological-supermarkets-EDITORIAL#sthash.572Lkf4u.dpuf)
Climate change, floods and landslides
The shifting and unpredictable weather pattern is the most talked about topic today, especially in Sri Lanka. The Meteorology Department, National Building Research Organisation and several other associated divisions engage in constructive discourse regarding this concern. Extreme heat, heavy rain, landslides and lightning are among the main issues faced by the people. Who or what is the cause for all these changes? It is a well-known fact that the humans itself are the cause for all these transformations. However, corrective measures to address this crisis have being taken by most of the developed countries which had realized the gravity of the problem. They have understood that humans are the cause for Al Neno, depletion of Ozone.
Though pink clouds and smog were witnessed in most of the capital cities in the west during the past, they are clearly absent now. However, many non-western countries including India, China and Sri Lanka now face a severe challenge due to the constant climatic changes.
Pollution in Colombo was to be measured and informed to the public. This no longer happens. Maybe the equipment too is not functioning. When it rains at night, a clear blue sky is seen the following morning as all polluted clouds get washed away. Recently, while I was walking along a passageway, it started to rain suddenly. As usual, everyone ran for shelter. While I too briskly marched to find some cover, I saw a vendor, who was wrapping up the fruits he had brought to sell, with a polythene sheet. Though it was a normal scenario, I thought of approaching him to inquire as to why he covered the fruits that would otherwise be exposed to the rain. My thinking was that the dust collected in the outer layers of the fruits would wash away with rain water, and hence, the fruit would later be edible.
When I questioned the vendor about his action, he then said, “The fruit would get spoiled if the acid rain touches them.”
The point is that a vendor knows the aftermath of pollution which many of us are unaware of. It is high time that legislators are made to comprehend the ground situation by walking among the public instead of moving about in luxury vehicles with tinted shutters. The western world, however, took corrective measures to combat these concerns. They took steps towards sustainable development by planting trees, controlling the emission of carbon dioxide/monoxide emitted from vehicles and minimizing the use of ozone depleting devices, as well as introducing strict laws.
In the interim, vehicle manufacturers were compelled to move into fuel efficient and electric vehicles, thereby reducing the use of fossil fuel resulting a drop in fuel consumption and prices.
China and India have gone to the extent of banning the use of vehicles on certain days to reduce pollution.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka is yet to introduce clean air public transport, but continues to import diesel busses and trucks. Educating the public is most the important thing in the transference. In USA, most of the parks and other recreation areas have stopped permitting private vehicles to enter as a measure towards creating a green environment. In this country, belching vehicles and busses are allowed even to Yala and other animal habitats.
What have we done in Sri Lanka? The so called Paradise! Introducing a mechanism to control vehicle emission was a step in the right direction. 90% of the vehicles on the street are clear. The balance 10% is still not clean due to corruption in the system, and the non-dedication of the public. Let us be happy that there are honest citizens in the country with respect to pollution control of exhaust. Some time back, expensive machinery was imported to randomly check moving vehicles. What has happened and where has the equipment gone now?
Prominent personalities initiated several tree planting campaigns. But what has happened and where have these trees been grown? The forest cover is reducing daily. Only trees planted by President Premadasa are seen in some parts of the country. Since independence, the country is merely a ‘Bottle of Soda’ when the cap is opened.
Fortunately, the UDA/RDA started to plant trees along the newly developed roads, but the CMC has failed to act as a curator to maintain them. They are not been fertilized to maintain growth as some leaves are yellow or the trees are stunted. Yahapalanaya is required here. Destruction of forests is taking place to a great extent. Legislators and citizens have to only pass Timber Saw Mills to witness the majestic trees that have been felled. It is easy to notice the difference from the trunk of the downed trees if they are from Cultivated Forests or from Natural Forests.
For the law to be implemented and enforced effectively, the legislator, executive and judiciary have to collaborate. Sri Lanka Police, Department of Forrest Conservation and other related authorities have to only visit the Saw Mills and take action against them instead of checking vehicles transporting timber logs which leads to corruption.
There is technology available to determine the life span of a tree. Of course the Judicial System of the country has to be accelerated as action taken by the authorities will drag on for years and years due to the lethargy and inefficiency of the Judiciary, resulting in the timber being lost to the country by natural causes due to rotting and no production of whatever the timber was supposed to produce.
We talk of rainfall and landslides. If the Meteorology Department takes data, the average rainfall for the country has not varied much other than for a minimal +/- year to year. Floods and landslides have augmented. What is the reason? Rainfall on land is not retained as there is less shrubs, trees and roots to reduce the flow of water downstream resulting in more water flowing from high elevation to low elevation prior to ground absorption, and finally, on to rivers thereby raising the level of water in rivers.
Landslides too are caused by rain water finding its way down at a faster rate dropping ground water absorption due to the absence of trees, resulting in the surrounding earth being washed away. During the days Ceylon was administered by the British, no deforestation was allowed over a height of 4,000 Feet if I remember correct, although they grew tea at high elevation. Sri Lanka forgot all these environment friendly laws of the British and continued on a destructive path influenced by politicians, mostly for political and personal benefit. 30% forest cover since independence has now reduced to 19%. The result of the destruction of forest cover on mountains, wild life, fauna and flora, life and limb of innocent citizens of the country who work in estates and lives in villages at high elevation is affected. It is the general public that has to bear the cost of rebuilding and relocating these innocent people, but lives lost cannot be replaced.
If the President, Prime Minister, Legislators and those responsible take a tour by Helicopter or a Low Flying Air Craft over the hill country or use GPS technology, they will be able to note the bare mountain tops especially in Nuwara Eliya, Diyatalawa. There are many Golf Courses that have popped up at high elevation on state land. Fox Hill was a thick jungle a few years ago, it is now a race track with no trees in sight in the surrounding. Knuckles range has many areas cleared, Sinharaja has many vacant arias which was thick jungle a few years ago. All this destruction is for reasons known only by those in power. Sad but true! –
(Source :13 May 2016 -Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka) http://www.dailymirror.lk/109414/Climate-change-floods-and-landslides#sthash.j7rfBNoP.dpuf)
As the climate shifts, tradition threatens Sri Lanka’s rice harvest
Thomson Reuters Foundation: In mid-April, at the same time of year as their families have done for generations, Sri Lanka’s paddy farmers started cultivating their rice fields.
But this year, that may be too late.
President Maithripala Sirisena has warned Sri Lanka’ farmers that they may run out of water before their crops are ready to harvest. Devotion to tradition – in particular, planting spring crops after a traditional New Year’s holiday in mid-April – could now prove devastating, he said.
But many farmers are so far not convinced that old schedules need to change to match new climate patterns – a problem many countries around the world face as they try to adjust to changing weather patterns.
Ranjith Sumanadasa, 50, a paddy farmer from Rajanganaya region in Sri Lanka’s north-central province, has been cultivating his rice for close to four decades based on traditional timetables.
“I learned from my father that after the March harvest we will celebrate Avurudu, and then prepare the fields around a week or two later, then the water comes,” he said. “There is no other way I know of.”
In early April, at a public rally in his native Polonnaruwa District, Sirisena explained how he had tried to convince Sri Lanka’s rice farmers to start cultivating a few weeks earlier than normal, to take advantage of recent rains that had filled some of the country’s reservoirs almost to capacity.
Sticking to the traditional timetable, he said, would mean losing much of that needed water to evaporation.
“I instructed the Water Management Committee to release water for paddy farmers as soon as possible,” Sirisena said on 2 April. “But the paddy farmers remain unmoved. They want to start the cultivation after the (traditional) New Year.”
Rains during the last weeks of March filled some reservoirs in the north and central parts of the country. As authorities released water from hydropower reservoirs to generate electricity, they also sent some to the smaller irrigation reservoirs to water rice fields, in the hopes the farmers would take advantage and use it right away.
But farmers instead waited over two weeks before using it, Sirisena said. With the island experiencing temperatures between 2 degrees Celsius and 4 degrees Celsius above average, according to the Meteorological Department, some of that water was lost.
“Because of the hot temperatures we are losing hundreds of cubic meters of water daily due to evaporation,” the president told the gathering in Polonnaruwa District. “You have to reconsider getting into the fields before the end of the month,” he pleaded.
Harvests evaporating?
When Sirisena spoke to the country’s paddy farmers in early April, the main irrigation tanks in the north central and central provinces were at around 80% capacity. But by the third week of April – when farmers wanted to start watering their crops – the levels had dropped by 20%, officials said.
Water management officials estimate that close to 300 million litres of water were evaporating daily across Sri Lanka. That could mean trouble for the paddy farms, which cover over 10% of the country’s land area.
“You will have to bear responsibility if there is a water shortage mid-season,” the president told farmers.
To make matters worse, Sir Lanka has experienced below-average rains across most of the island through April, according to the Met Department. May is also predicted to be unseasonably dry.
In 2014, a similar spell of dry weather hit Sri Lanka’s rice farmers, resulting in a harvest of 3.3 million tons, 17% less than the year before. Although Sri Lanka’s farmers are aware of the shift in the country’s climate patterns – and the potentially dire consequences – many refuse to change the way they farm.
Sri Lanka’s paddy farmers have long followed a cultivation schedule based on two monsoon seasons: Maha, between November and March, and Yala, between April and October. Based on that timetable, paddy farmers begin to prepare their fields for cultivation only after Avurudu, the Sinhalese and Tamil New Year that falls between 13 and 14 April.
According to Namal Karunaratne, national organiser of the All Ceylon Peasants’ Federation, the country’s monsoons used to bring around 4.5 million metric tons of rain each year.
But the seasonal rains have become unreliable, with one study by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology suggesting rainfall over the Indian subcontinent has decreased between 20 and 30% over the last century.
“Our farmers are yet to get used to these changes. They are still used to the government providing water on time,” Karunaratne said. “They are not used to water management.”
(Source 11-05-2016 Daily FT -Sri Lanka : http://www.ft.lk/article/540683/As-the-climate-shifts–tradition-threatens-Sri-Lanka-s-rice-harvest#sthash.Gblltch0.dpuf)
How Climate Change Affects Ocean’s Oxygen Level
The continues global warming due to climate change has been known to take its toll to Arctic, melting ice caps at an increased rate, but a new study suggests that the warming climate may be sapping considerably amounts of oxygen from the ocean.
(Photo : Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images)
According to the study published in the journalProceedings of the Royal Society B, scientist have long known that the warming climate can sap oxygen from the ocean, but they have discovered that a considerable amount of oxygen reduction in some oceans are already discernable, and by 2030 and 204 the loss of oxygen level across large oceans around the world will become more apparent.
With the reduction of the ocean’s oxygen level, marine species such as fishes, crabs and squids will have more difficulty of breathing, which can result to the sudden death and development of larger dead zones where no marine life can live.
“Loss of oxygen in the ocean is one of the serious side effects of a warming atmosphere, and a major threat to marine life,” said NCAR scientist Matthew Long, lead author of the study, said in a statement.
If the atmosphere becomes warmer than usual, oceans ability to draw oxygen from the atmosphere will be inhibited leaving it dependent to its other source of oxygen-the photosynthesizing phytoplankton.
In order to have a better grasp in the natural heating and cooling cycles and complex systems of currents and upwelling of oceans, researchers utilized the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s (NCAR) Community Earth System Model. They ran the model multiples times for the years 1920 through 2100. The researchers accounted global warming by making slight manipulations in air temperature.
After running the model, researchers identified that the reduction of oxygen in the ocean that can be attributed to global warming is apparent in 2030.
“Since oxygen concentrations in the ocean naturally vary depending on variations in winds and temperature at the surface, it’s been challenging to attribute any deoxygenation to climate change. This new study tells us when we can expect the impact from climate change to overwhelm the natural variability,” Long concluded.
(Source : 29/04/2016 Nature World News http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/21285/20160428/climate-change-affects-ocean-s-oxygen-level.htm)