AIZAWL, April 17, 2019: Mizoram on Monday experienced its hottest day in 20 years as the mercury level touched 34.2 degrees Celsius. The temperature has been increasing due to deforestation in many areas of the State.Sources from the Science and Technology department said the State has become warmer by 2.75 degrees Celsius over the past 15 years, against the average global surface temperature of 0.6 degrees Celsius to 2.5 degrees Celsius. So it was not surprising when the temperature reached 34.2 degree Celsius on Monday, which is the highest in 20 years in Mizoram.”
The maximum and minimum temperatures in the capital city of the State were 34.2 degree Celsius and 17.8 degree Celsius respectively on Monday.
The Chief Scientific Officer of the Mizoram Directorate of Science and Technology RK Lallianthanga said that the temperature has been increasing gradually.
“The present rate at which Aizawl’s temperature is climbing the scale is even higher than the estimated minimum rate of global warming for the next 50 years,” one of the department officials said, adding that a detailed study on climatic changes requires a proper meteorological observatory, which the State still lacks.
The main cause behind the rapid increase in temperature in Aizawl, according to officials, is the ecological imbalance caused by unplanned urbanisation, rather than the greenhouse effect, which generally is the main reason in the rest of the world.
“As we all know, Delhi’s temperature is very high during summers. But the city has large areas of man-made forests within it and its surroundings which prevent global warming to a great extent,” an official said.
The primitive slash-and burn method of cultivation is a major cause behind the massive destruction of forests and its subsequent greenhouse emissions.