Weather is no more for making small talk. If the epic floods of August 2018 in Kerala was a lesson, it is that weather is central to our lives and may be a matter of life and death. So much so that when a group of students at Government Higher Secondary School, Tirur, released data last week on daily rain in the area linked to extremely localised, heavy spells it made news.
It is a breakthrough that paves way for a future in which area-specific or micro-weather data will be collected through school-based weather stations to understand conditions to predict a pattern and possibly avoid crisis-like situations. These efforts are under way in around 250 schools in the State through a programme under the Samagra Shiksha Kerala under the General Education department in collaboration with the Advanced Centre for Atmospheric Radar Research, Cochin University of Science and technology (Cusat).
These weather stations are expected to be fully functional with the reopening of schools for the new academic season that coincides with the opening of the rainy season, sources said. The groundwork for running these stations is under way, including printing of data entry books. Teachers selected from the schools were familiarised with the running of the stations under the Cusat centre in October last year.
Extreme weather variations experienced by the State over the last decade have led to the setting up of the weather stations in schools. Torrential rain, cloudbursts, landslips, floods and extreme climate events are now familiar to the State. There are also large variations in the monsoon rains.
A teacher associated with the programme said that the school-based weather stations will not only help generate reliable data but also create the background for drawing students with aptitude to research in the future.
The success of the school weather stations programme has been recognised by the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences when the Director General of Meteorology M. Mohapatra issued a certificate of appreciation to K. Dhanyasree, Kadeeja Farha and Muhammed Jusil, all students of Second Year Humanities at the Tirur school for their research paper on weather and atmospheric conditions variations in the Vayala region in Kollam district.
The Director General said in his appreciation letter that their efforts, at such a young age, were highly praiseworthy and should go a long way in encouraging other students across India to venture into such important issues.
