Climate Change Centre to come up at IIT Kharagpur

The Union Department of Science and Technology is planning to set up a Centre of Excellence at Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, to focus on climate change science, adaptation and mitigation, the institution's director said here on Sunday.

"The project will include water resources, biodiversity, agriculture, ocean and marine ecosystem, coastal and island vulnerability including sea level rise, extreme events, disaster risk reduction and management, Socio-economic vulnerability and Livelihood," IIT Kharagpur director Partha Pratim Chakrabarti told the media after the institute's 62nd convocation.

The project - which is expected to have a total budget of Rs 10 crore for five years - will focus on vulnerability and risk assessment due to various environmental drivers in a climate change scenario over eastern India. The objective is to develop an integrated modelling system using coupled models, machine learning and data analytics to predict extreme events.

It will help in carrying out risk and vulnerability assessment of various environmental divers and propose remedial solutions, said Chakrabarti.

The project will also provide comprehensive analysis and understanding of various extreme weather events such as tropical cyclones, pre-monsoon convective activity, extreme ocean waves and storm surges, sea level rise, extreme rainfall patterns, flash floods and their interactions in the overall assessment of vulnerability and risk in climate change scenarios.

--IANS

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