Posted on July, 20, 2021 at 11:22 pm
IN efforts to tackle impacts of climate change in the country, the government is preparing the National Climate Change Strategy 2021-2016 draft, researchers have been informed.
This was said by Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA)'s Director of Research and Applied Meteorology, Dr Ladislaus Chang'a, during a week-long training for planners, policy and decision makers to use Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) in practice and sharing selected evidence in different sectors.
The training, organised by the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH), drew researchers from different sectors, so as to tap into the potential in using research data to advise the government on various policy issues which can help in planning for the country's development.
According to Dr Chang'a, different researches suggest that the effects of climate in Tanzania continue extending its roots in different socio-economic sectors and that they expect to double because of an increasing pace in weather conditions.
"These researches show that in the past four decades, many areas have had indicators of temperature increase, whereas temperature at night is higher compared to temperature during the day," he said.
Dr Chang'a added that there have also been indicators that the rains are increasingly becoming scarce, while heavy downpour, floods and droughts have increased significantly.
According to meteorological projections, researchers say it is expected that by 2100, the temperature is likely to increase up to between 2°C and 4 °C in different parts of the country.
"Events of awkward weather conditions including droughts, heavy rains, floods and heavy wind are expected to increase in different parts of the country," he added.
Researches further suggest that day and night temperature is expected to increase in all regions in Tanzania, with the temperature at night expected to be even more terrible.
Because of that, if stringent measures are not taken to mitigate climatic conditions in the country, several sectors are expected to be affected, among them, Agriculture, Livestock, water, energy, fisheries, transport and health.
To mitigate damages of climate change, researchers suggest that more education on how to reduce effects should be intensified in all sectors.
They also recommend that more research on weather should be conducted, as well as preparing the national policy on weather in order to increase efficiency in proper use of weather information provided by TMA.
"There should also be a national strategy to strengthen agriculture and local industrial development, including availability of appropriate seedlings which can sustain drought conditions as well as increasing projects on irrigation farming," said DrChang'a.
Source: Daily News