Mizoram warming faster than rest of the world

Aizawl, June 6: The 'naturally air-conditioned' atmosphere of Mizoram will soon be a thing of past, as the state has experienced the highest rate of global warming over the past 15 years.

Citing official records, state Environment and Forest Minister R Lalthangliana said the temperature in Mizoram had increased by 2.75 degrees Celsius over the past 15 years against the average increase in global surface temperature of 0.6 to 2.5 degrees Celsius.

Addressing the World Environment Day observation here yesterday, Mr Lalthangliana said that the state used to experience an average temperature of 23.88 degrees Celsius. However, it soared to 25.64 degrees Celsius in 2000, and 26.63 degree Celsius in 2005.

Attributing the increasing Greenhouse Effect caused by the age-old shifting cultivation, the minister emphasised on the need to protect ''the green gold, the forest.'' He also said the human activities were responsible for the drastic change in the climate.

Highlighting the various adverse effects brought about by global warming, Mr Lalthangliana stressed that to prevent global warming, the forest should be protected.

According to the Science and Technology Wing of the State's Planning&Programme Implementation Department, the present rate of increase in Aizawl's temperature was even higher than the estimated minimum rate of global warming for the next 50 years.

Official sources claimed that the main cause of this increase was the ecological imbalance caused by unplanned urbanisation, rather than the Green House Effect, which generally was the main cause in the rest of the world.

''Detailed knowledge on climatic changes in Aizawl requires a proper meteorological observatory, which the state is still lacking,'' officials said.

UNI