Climate change has made every mind to bend a little, just to think more about how they can specifically help to restore balance in the Environment.
Whether individuals or the respective Governments may try their best to resuscitate the best of our Nature, we have to seize our present to ensure our future, curb our polluting, denigrating lifestyles in whatever way we can.
Every change is significant, in the long run.
However, in order to implement those, we need to be sure of what changes the Earth is going through, in different spheres, be it lithosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere or the atmosphere.
On the similar lines, Cabinet committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a scheme called Atmosphere & Climate Research-Modelling Observing Systems & Services (ACROSS) to be continued for next five years.
This continuation will cost nearly Rs. 2,135 crore to the Indian exchequer.
The scheme is the brainchild of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) and will be implemented in collaboration with the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) and the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS).
All of these institutes will offer a dedicated role in fulfilling the very targets claimed under the umbrella project.
Being executed to life by these four agencies, ACROSS is an umbrella scheme with eight sub-schemes encompassing the programmes for greater understanding of atmospheric science.
These eight master schemes are as follows:
Commissioning of Polarimetric Doppler Weather Radars (DWRs)
Upgradation of Forecast System, Weather & Climate Services
Atmospheric Observations Network
Numerical Modelling of Weather and Climate
Monsoon Mission III
Monsoon Convection
Clouds and Climate Change (MC4)
High Performance Computing System (HPCS)
While addressing these different aspects of weather and climate services, this scheme will help render improved services in weather, climate related forecasting and services along with oceanic predictions as well.
This can indirectly benefit Sports & adventure, agricultural productivity systems, Aviation services, tourism, pilgrimage, renewable energy generation etc.
What will the citizens achieve from the successful roll-on of this scheme?
With improved forecasts, it will be easy for predicting the timings, intensity, frequency of disasters like cyclones, heat waves, thunderstorms, excessive rainfall etc., that is progressively growing uncertain with increasing climate change.
Increasing programmes will drive the employment benefits and provide the much-needed opportunities to learn in a sphere that remains neglected for long.
It will provide an impetus to utilizing the sizable number of scientific and technical talents available therein, along with most vital administrative support for sustaining the same.
Most of the Indians residing on its periphery, have suffered much to the endangered climate science and weather forecast services.
How can one assure the directed delivery of this system to the end-user?
To make these weather based services available to an end-user in need, a gamut of large number of agencies to the ilks of Krishi Vigyana Kendras of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), will be used to delve in deeper.
Along with these, various universities and local municipalities can be engaged in willful generation of employment opportunities to a set of deprived population of this Nation.
There are various ongoing works of Ministry of Earth Sciences those deserve a mandate to carry out research and developmental activities in the very grassroots of the country that does not have a technology in every hand.
Especially, there is a grave need to develop and improve our capacities to forecast weather and natural disaster yielding phenomena.
ACROSS scheme can help save MoES in this direction as it can aid other ongoing services, the end-users are already are already working with.
Those several initiatives maintaining dedicated observation systems and infrastructure, spreading such awareness through campaigns, implementing the weather and climate modelling, monsoon-research that sustains the Nation’s food security etc., can help perform better with ACROSS.