According to the official information of the World Meteorological Organization, the global average temperature was the highest in July 2023 according to all instrumental observations. How did it appear itself in our country? Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Umayra Taghiyeva shared her thoughts with AZERTAC about climate change in Azerbaijan. ‘First of all, we should take into account that sometimes people who got information about global indicators from the press apply them directly to their area of residence. This is not the correct approach, as this is an average number that shows a general trend. Indicators in different countries can significantly differ from each other. In this regard, the average temperature in the summer of 2023 in the territory of Azerbaijan was higher than the climatic norm in some periods, but did not reach record indicators. For example, the average temperature in July was only 0.4-1.7 degrees higher than the norm in the country. It is true that August was hotter and this difference was in the range of 3-5 degrees. At the same time, as a result of local heavy rains the number of floods exceeded last year’s record by 3 times and reached 147,’ she said. According to her, sometimes even in neighboring areas, contradictory anomalous events may occur. Example from this year, along with record number of floods in our country, we witnessed the reduction of flow in many rivers and drought mainly in lowlands. This is the unexpected and contradictory side of climate change. Taghiyeva noted that 30-40 years had passed since the relatively “stable” period of the climate. In general, in order to assess modern changes in climatology, comparisons are being made with the period of 1961-1990, which is considered as the climate norm. ‘An increase both in the number and in intensity of anomalous weather events, and according to the climate scenarios this will continue. It is important to adapt to events such as droughts, floods, heat waves, in other words, to climate changes that have occurred and are expected to be. Based on the results of monitoring and scientific researches, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which has 234 scientific members from 66 countries of the United Nations, concluded that the Earth’s climate will change extremely rapidly in 2023. According to them, some of the emerging trends are irreversible. In general, in Azerbaijan the winter season has been milder in recent years. The number of frosty and snowy days is observed less. There are pluses and minuses of this. A mild winter affects the reduction of snowy days, consequently the water amount in rivers, cause increase of pests which negatively effects crop production, etc. On the plus side, the demand for heating supplies is relatively low during the mild winter months. In general, the climate factor affects all areas of our life. For this reason, we should continue our activities and our lives by reducing the negative effects of climate change and benefiting from its positive aspects,’ she pointed out.
Source: AZERTAC, Azerbaijan State News Agency