PANAJI: By 2030, 671SQKM of state forest cover and trees are set to emerge as a climate hotspot, which is an area that is expected to be influenced by climate change, the Indian forest survey (FSI) said in its latest assessment 2021 was released on Thursday.
In 2050, all 2,237sQkm from forest cover and cave trees, such as most states, is likely to face the severity of ‘high’ from climate change, according to the report.
‘High severity’ means that green cover in Goa is expected to see a temperature increase between 1.5 and 2.1 degrees Celsius.
In addition, the climate hotspot will also see changes in rainfall patterns due to an increase or decrease as far as 20-26%, FSI report shows.
“Climate hotspots refer to an area that tends to face severe effects of climate change,” said the report.
The result was discarded by collaborative research conducted by FSI for all countries in collaboration with the Birlas Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, Goa Campus.
This study maps the climate hotspot on the country’s green cover.
“Increasing understanding of climate hotspot areas because the adverse climate impacts in Indian forests will assist in the planning and mitigation strategies of the effects of climate change and develop appropriate adaptation measures,” declaring FSI reports.
Assessment 2021 also shows that the area under the cover of bamboo in Goa has drastically reduced by 130SQKM by 2021, compared to the latest assessment of the FSI carried out in 2019.
In addition, 45 fires during the shooting season from November 2019 to June 2020 and 47 Fires during Season since November 2020 to June 2021 was recorded in Goa by FSI.
It’s almost 100 fires in Goa, including big, continuous and recurring fire, according to the report.
This is apart from the fact that there is no forest area in Goa, according to FSI, including in the fire category, perhaps showing damage as the cause of forest fires.
However, FSI’s assessment shows that the total cave forest cover of 1.271SQKM has risen 7SQKM.
Cave forest cover now amounts to 34.3% of the total geographical area of the country.
The increase in forest cover by 7SQKM was mainly due to an increase in open forest areas recorded in Goa, according to the report.
Climate change is set to affect Goa Forest, tree cover in 2030
