Roorkee (The Hawk): A two-day international conference organized by the Department of Water Resources Development and Management (WRD&M) at IIT Roorkee on "Climate and weather-related extremes (ICCWE)" was ended with recommendations for mitigation of climate and weather-related extremes.
Dr. A. K. Mitra, Director, National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), Noida, addresses the valedictory session. He highlighted the contribution of NCMRWF in weather forecasting with particular reference to extreme weather events. His address mainly focused on seamless modeling systems, ensemble weather forecasts, artificial intelligence, and machine learning in forecasting extreme weather events.
Prof. Ajit. K. Chaturvedi, Director, IIT Roorkee, applauded the conference organizing committee for a successful event and was happy that the conference came up with an outcome in the form of recommendations for mitigation of climate and weather-related extremes, viz. floods, droughts, heatwaves, cold waves, cyclones, and lightning.
The three best technical paper presentations of the conference were awarded by the dignitaries- Dr. Mitra and Prof. Chaturvedi.
At the outset, Prof. Ashish Pandey, Chairman of ICCWE and Head, WRD&M Department, welcome the diganataries and delegates.
Prof. Mohit P. Mohanty, Organizing Secretary, ICCWE, presented a detailed report of the Conference. He apprised that there were 96 presentations elaborating on environmental change and providing insights into disaster management. The expert talks and the technical presentations virtually from distinguished speakers across the globe on the climate and weather-related extremes offered valuable insights. They paved the way for the research community. Solving these issues is multi-dimensional and requires stakeholder representation from various social, cultural, economic, and technological backgrounds.
As per the recommendations of the conference, there is a need for high spatial and temporal resolution data in modeling, forecasting, and developing mitigation measures. Novel modeling frameworks for predictions and uncertainty quantification are the way forward for young researchers to explore the impacts of environmental extremes. Institutes should collaborate with multiple stakeholders, including government, non-government, and local communities, to address and mitigate the issues of climate and weather hazards such as cyclones, floods, glacier melts, tornados, and droughts.
The organizers delivered a big message keeping conference away from single use plastic products. The water bottles made from glass, and paper glasses were used instead of plastic bottles and fiber glasses during the whole program.
Prof. Kritika Kothari, WRD&M Department, convened the session. The valedictory ceremony was concluded with the formal vote of thanks proposed by Prof. Basant Yadav, Department of WRD&M.
