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This year’s monsoon season has seen a fair amount of rainfall thus far. That may seem like a good thing, but what puts a damper on the news is the fact that warm, rather than cool, weather accompanied the rains, and that was particularly noticeable in the early part of this month.
While night time temperatures of around 23oC were the norm in decades gone by, temperatures of 26oC and 27oC were recorded in the beginning of July, following the blistering summer that Goa experienced this year.
Blame it on climate change and environmental degradation brought on by human activity, which shows little, if any, signs of diminishing.
Global warming reached unprecedented heights in the 1980s, setting off alarm bells across the world, and threatening to smother the earth with catastrophic consequences.
The summer of 1988 was the hottest on record up until that point in time, leaving a trail of widespread drought, wildfires, stronger storms and intense heat conditions worldwide.
Global warming reached unprecedented heights in the 1980s, setting off alarm bells across the world, and threatening to smother the earth with catastrophic consequences.
Even phenomena such as El Nino and La Nina have been wreaking havoc on global weather patterns owing to climate change.
As if that was not enough, rapid urbanisation resulting in an increase in concrete structures and hot-mixed surfaces are equally guilty of deepening the problem of global warming.
Closer to home, Goa’s weather is getting hotter by the day, with summers now seeing highs of close to 40oC, and lows of nothing less than 27oC.
Being a tourist paradise has not absolved Goa of the impact of climate change.
Time was when the Goan summer was pleasantly warm by day, enjoying temperatures of around 28oC, followed by cool nights. That perfect weather, which attracted visitors to the State for decades, has given way to simmering summer days coupled with warm nights.
Adding fuel to the fire are rapid urbanisation and reckless felling of trees. This stripping of Goa’s green cover means that temperatures are going to keep rising in amchem Goem with each passing year.
Time was when the Goan summer was pleasantly warm by day, enjoying temperatures of around 28oC, followed by cool nights. That perfect weather, which attracted visitors to the State for decades, has given way to simmering summer days coupled with warm nights.
Desperate times call for desperate measures – and maybe, a bit of innovation, such as a man-made urban forest. Perhaps Goa can take a cue from the Bosco Verticale in Milan, Italy, a vertical forest designed by architect, Stefano Boeri.
Built in 2014, Bosco Verticale is an ambitious project aimed at ‘urban reforestation’. The residential skyscrapers incorporate thousands of trees, shrubs and perennials, which help mitigate smog and produce oxygen, thereby improving air quality.
The plants on the buildings also help moderate temperatures within the building in the winter and summer months. Vertical forests can, thus, help reduce the effects of climate change, even if only marginally.
Vertical forests are found in India, too, the first being in Hyderabad.
Perhaps a similar concept can be adopted in Goa albeit on a more practical and economically viable level, such as vertical gardens on low-rise buildings or even terrace gardens and hanging gardens.
That way, even the ordinary man on the street can to do his bit to minimise the impact of climate change – which is clearly the need of the hour.