How prepared are water and agricultural sectors in Sri Lanka for climate change?: a review
Climate is changing world wide, and the science community in Sri Lanka have come up with ample evidence to suggest that the country?s climate has already changed. During 1961- 1990 it?s mean air temperature has increased by 0.016 0C per year (higher than the global average of 0.013 0C), and mean ann...
| Autores principales: | , |
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| Formato: | Conference Paper |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
2009
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/38166 |
| _version_ | 1855520229151473664 |
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| author | Eriyagama, Nishadi Smakhtin, Vladimir U. |
| author_browse | Eriyagama, Nishadi Smakhtin, Vladimir U. |
| author_facet | Eriyagama, Nishadi Smakhtin, Vladimir U. |
| author_sort | Eriyagama, Nishadi |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Climate is changing world wide, and the science community in Sri Lanka have come up with ample evidence to suggest that the country?s climate has already changed. During 1961- 1990 it?s mean air temperature has increased by 0.016 0C per year (higher than the global average of 0.013 0C), and mean annual rainfall- decreased by 144 mm (7%) compared to the period 1931-1960. In addition, mean annual daytime maximum and mean annual night-time minimum air temperatures increased. However, the bigger question of national importance is what Sri Lanka?s climate will look like in 50 or 100 years and how prepared is the country to face it. Apart from the IPCC projections at the coarse global scale, few studies attempted to project future climate scenarios for Sri Lanka and to identify climate change impacts on agriculture, water resources, the sea level, the plantation sector, the economy and health. Vulnerability and adaptation to climate change are the least studied areas. The paper reviews the status of climate change research/activities in Sri Lanka with respect to future climate predictions, impacts, mitigation and adaptation, and identifies existing knowledge gaps. Messages emerging from this review suggest that Sri Lanka?s mean temperature during the North-East (December-February) and South-West (May-September) monsoon seasons will increase by about 2.9 0C and 2.5 0C respectively, over the baseline (1961-1990), by the year 2100 with accompanying changes in the quantity and spatial distribution of rainfall. Extreme climate events are expected to increase in frequency. These changes will bring about widespread impacts on the country?s agriculture and economy. For example, a 0.5 0C increase in temperature can reduce rice yield by approximately 5.9%; extended dry spells and excessive cloudiness during the wet season can reduce coconut yield so that annual losses can range between $32 and $73 million. Pilot studies in the Galle District suggest that sea level rise could inundate about 20% of the land area of coastal district secretariat divisions. Adaptation measures already undertaken in the agricultural sector include development of low water consuming rice varieties and use of micro-irrigation technologies. Tools have been developed for predicting seasonal water availability within the Mahaweli Scheme and for predicting annual national coconut production. However, Sri Lanka is yet to undertake a comprehensive national study on the vulnerability of its water resources and agriculture to climate change. Formulation of detailed and reliable future climate scenarios for the country is and urgent need in this regard. |
| format | Conference Paper |
| id | CGSpace38166 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2009 |
| publishDateRange | 2009 |
| publishDateSort | 2009 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace381662025-11-07T08:33:17Z How prepared are water and agricultural sectors in Sri Lanka for climate change?: a review Eriyagama, Nishadi Smakhtin, Vladimir U. climate rain climate change adaptation water resources energy air temperature agricultural production coconuts rice crops diversification research priorities Climate is changing world wide, and the science community in Sri Lanka have come up with ample evidence to suggest that the country?s climate has already changed. During 1961- 1990 it?s mean air temperature has increased by 0.016 0C per year (higher than the global average of 0.013 0C), and mean annual rainfall- decreased by 144 mm (7%) compared to the period 1931-1960. In addition, mean annual daytime maximum and mean annual night-time minimum air temperatures increased. However, the bigger question of national importance is what Sri Lanka?s climate will look like in 50 or 100 years and how prepared is the country to face it. Apart from the IPCC projections at the coarse global scale, few studies attempted to project future climate scenarios for Sri Lanka and to identify climate change impacts on agriculture, water resources, the sea level, the plantation sector, the economy and health. Vulnerability and adaptation to climate change are the least studied areas. The paper reviews the status of climate change research/activities in Sri Lanka with respect to future climate predictions, impacts, mitigation and adaptation, and identifies existing knowledge gaps. Messages emerging from this review suggest that Sri Lanka?s mean temperature during the North-East (December-February) and South-West (May-September) monsoon seasons will increase by about 2.9 0C and 2.5 0C respectively, over the baseline (1961-1990), by the year 2100 with accompanying changes in the quantity and spatial distribution of rainfall. Extreme climate events are expected to increase in frequency. These changes will bring about widespread impacts on the country?s agriculture and economy. For example, a 0.5 0C increase in temperature can reduce rice yield by approximately 5.9%; extended dry spells and excessive cloudiness during the wet season can reduce coconut yield so that annual losses can range between $32 and $73 million. Pilot studies in the Galle District suggest that sea level rise could inundate about 20% of the land area of coastal district secretariat divisions. Adaptation measures already undertaken in the agricultural sector include development of low water consuming rice varieties and use of micro-irrigation technologies. Tools have been developed for predicting seasonal water availability within the Mahaweli Scheme and for predicting annual national coconut production. However, Sri Lanka is yet to undertake a comprehensive national study on the vulnerability of its water resources and agriculture to climate change. Formulation of detailed and reliable future climate scenarios for the country is and urgent need in this regard. 2009 2014-06-13T11:40:51Z 2014-06-13T11:40:51Z Conference Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/38166 en Open Access application/pdf Eriyagama, Nishadi; Smakhtin, Vladimir. 2009. How prepared are water and agricultural sectors in Sri Lanka for climate change?: a review. Paper presented at the Water for Food Conference: national conference addressing water management issues, food security, environment and climate change in Sri Lanka, organized by the International Water Management Institute, Irrigation Department (Sri Lanka), Department of Agriculture (Sri Lanka), Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute, held at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 9 - 11 June 2009. 25p. |
| spellingShingle | climate rain climate change adaptation water resources energy air temperature agricultural production coconuts rice crops diversification research priorities Eriyagama, Nishadi Smakhtin, Vladimir U. How prepared are water and agricultural sectors in Sri Lanka for climate change?: a review |
| title | How prepared are water and agricultural sectors in Sri Lanka for climate change?: a review |
| title_full | How prepared are water and agricultural sectors in Sri Lanka for climate change?: a review |
| title_fullStr | How prepared are water and agricultural sectors in Sri Lanka for climate change?: a review |
| title_full_unstemmed | How prepared are water and agricultural sectors in Sri Lanka for climate change?: a review |
| title_short | How prepared are water and agricultural sectors in Sri Lanka for climate change?: a review |
| title_sort | how prepared are water and agricultural sectors in sri lanka for climate change a review |
| topic | climate rain climate change adaptation water resources energy air temperature agricultural production coconuts rice crops diversification research priorities |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/38166 |
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