'Climate changes playing havoc with lives of people'

Projected temperature will rise around two degrees centigrade at the end of this century, due to climate changes playing havoc with lives of the people, agriculture wild life, livestock, water resources and other areas. Whereas, in the last century temperature rose by 0.6 degree centigrade.

It was stated by UAF Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Ashraf while addressing one day lecture on "Environmental Information & Management-The Case of Punjab, Pakistan" organised by GEB (Generating Global Environmental Benefits), Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Islamabad, and on University of Agriculture Faisalabad at New Senate Hall.

He said that increase in frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, erratic monsoon rains and others are causing frequent and intense harms to the human beings. He said smoke chunking from the chimney of factories as well as from vehicles were posing a serious threat and deteriorating the quality of air, environment and climate. He said that such situation was causing outbreaks of new diseases and insects including dengue victimizing the people. He said that the country was experiencing smog which was occurring from the last few years. It is also an outcome of the changing climate. He said that university has planted 7,500 samplings and university was encouraging every student of the university to plant a tree. He said that university was also maintaining the record of the planted saplings.

GEB Country Coordinator Dr Saleem Janjua presented the brief overview of the UN and government of Pakistan's initiatives related to environmental information and management-the Case of Punjab. He stressed upon the need to robust environmental information management and IT systems for the province. He said accurate, reliable and timely information is vital to effective decision-making in almost every aspect of human endeavor, whether it be undertaken by individuals, an organization or governments. It is an essential component of any effort to persuade individuals, organizations or governments to make different decisions.

Centre for Rural Economy, Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division Group Head, Syed Amjad Hussain said that Pakistan's vulnerability to climate change. He said that the country ranks number one amongst the ten most vulnerable countries due to climate change (GermanWatch 2010). He said that nine out of the 10 most diasters were climate change induced in the last decade.

Director Center for Advanced Studies UAF Dr Ashfaq Chatha said that Environmental Information Management Systems (EIMS) assists people firms in organizing internal corporate benchmarking efforts. It attempts to capture environmental impacts from activities throughout a facility under a single system. He said that with the help of ICT, the modern agriculture information tools, and precision agriculture, productivity of crops can increase manifold. He said that per acre wheat production in the country was only 28 mounds, whereas the progressive farmers were getting 60 mounds. He said that Develop new varieties of crops which are high yielding, resistant to Climate Change and less vulnerable to insects and pests.