AltSU scientists are developing a regional climate change adaptation plan for Samara Oblast
Scientists from the Institute of Geography and the International Institute of Economics, Management and Information Systems of Altai State University won the competition and signed a contract to develop a Regional Climate Change Adaptation Plan for Samara Oblast. One of the main documents of the plan will be a climate safety passport for the region.
For several decades, there have been heated scientific and non-scientific discussions around the issue of climate change on the planet, being it global warming or global cooling. Meteorological observations show that changes really occur, in terms of temperature, precipitation patterns, and in climatic cycles.
In this regard, Russia adopted the Climate Doctrine (a document that is a system of views on the purpose, principles, content and ways of implementing the unified state policy of Russia within the country and in the international arena on issues related to climate change and its consequences). The Government of the Russian Federation approved the national climate change adaptation action plan and decided to develop regional climate safety passports, and then Regional climate change adaptation plans.
“The climate security passport will become part of the Regional Plan. The passport reflects the natural and climatic conditions that characterize the given region, its location, availability of water resources, characteristics of vegetation, soil resources, land fund, environmental pollution, etc. All these indicators are considered from the point of view of possible climatic and environmental risks that may further affect the socio-economic development of the region (cause economic damage to the sectors of the economy) and the health of the population. The passport reflects specific data on changes in temperature and wind regimes, snow cover, precipitation, climatic anomalies over 30 years. Dangerous hydrometeorological phenomena are noted - floods, droughts, strong winds, etc. All this is characterized, so that then it would be possible to draw conclusions about what is happening in the region, to assess the state of various components of the natural environment,” said the responsible project executive, an associate professor of the Department of Physical Geography and geoinformation systems, Candidate of Geographical Sciences Irina Rotanova.
Based on the analysis of these data, scientists can develop predictive scenario estimates of changes in climate characteristics up to the middle of the 21st century and give recommendations on how to avoid the negative consequences of these changes.
AltSU scientists started working on the project in August, they visited Samara Oblast, met with representatives of the customer - the Ministry of Forestry, Environmental Protection and Nature Management of the region. The team has already analyzed the branches of economic activity developed on the territory of Samara Oblast, and is forming a ranked list of adaptation measures and a list of regional indicators of adaptation of the region.
"There is a large car factory in Togliatti. The region has developed oil and gas production, and several oil refineries operate. There are enterprises of the military-industrial complex and Roskosmos, industrial production is well developed. The region has the most powerful ammonia pipeline in the world. We work only with civilian industries. Together with colleagues from MIEMIS, various data on large enterprises have been analyzed and adaptation measures are being developed, in particular, to preserve the Volga River and prevent its pollution; reducing to an acceptable level the risk of the impact of hazardous chemical factors that have arisen as a result of past economic activities on the biosphere, technosphere and ecological system, as well as increasing the level of environmental safety and preserving the natural systems of Samara Oblast. Representatives of MIEMIS are conducting economic calculations, develop the entire economic part of the Regional plan,” notes Irina Rotanova.