Climate change affects many segments of life - health, agriculture, transport and migration, and this requires changes in the actions of governments, large companies and citizens, assessed meteorologist Dušan Pavićević, stating that these changes are primarily manifested through changes in temperature, which is visible and in Podgorica.
Pavićević pointed out that climate change, in the simplest terms, is a long-term change in the average temperature and weather conditions on earth.
"So, it would be wrong to observe the parameters for one, two or five years and draw conclusions based on that. However, if we have a trend that lasts a decade, two or more and not only in one point but in a wider region or globally, then it is right to discuss climate deviations or even changes," Pavićević told the MINA agency.
As he points out, the fact is that in recent years more and more attention has been paid to already visible changes and consequences, but also to those that could follow.
"There are many segments that these changes affect and will continue to affect (health, agriculture, transport, migration...). All of this requires changes in the actions of governments and large companies, but also in all of us," emphasized Pavićević.
He added that changes are primarily manifested through temperature changes, which is also happening in Podgorica.
Asked how the climate has changed in Podgorica in the last 30 years, Pavićević said that there is a lot of data that supports the claim that the period from 1991 to 2020 is very different from the period from 1961 to 1990.
He gave an example of the average annual number of tropical days in Podgorica (days with a maximum daily temperature over 30 degrees) by decades.
From 1961 to 1970, there were an average of 67 tropical days per year, in the next decade there were 60, and from 1981-1990. an average of 71 tropical days per year was recorded.
In the last three decades, as Pavićević said, there has been an increase in the average number of tropical days.
He pointed out that in the decade 1991-2000, an average of 83 tropical days were recorded per year, from 2001 to 2010 89, and in the previous decade as many as 96.
"Looking at the average annual minimum temperature, we have had all ten warmest years since 2011," emphasized Pavićević.
Pavićević said that, comparing by month, the average maximum temperature from 1991 to 2020 increased the most in the summer months (June, July and August), by more than two degrees, of which August even by more than 2,5 degrees , and the least November - less than one degree.
Asked what are the reasons for the change in climate in Podgorica, Pavićević replied that the general view is that climate change on a global level is the result of human activity, so of course this also applies to Podgorica.
He emphasized that it is true that the climate has changed before, but, as he pointed out, much more slowly.
Pavićević points out that natural samples cannot explain why there was such a rapid warming at the end of the last century and the beginning of this century.
"As a logical conclusion, the position that these climate changes are caused by humans, primarily due to the large use of fossil fuels - coal, oil and gas - in homes, factories, transport... and the increased production of greenhouse gases", stated Pavićević.
As he said, there are also skeptics regarding that position, but for now they do not offer a more acceptable explanation.
Speaking about what kind of changes in the climate can be expected in Podgorica in the coming period, Pavićević says that, without a more serious and comprehensive approach to reducing greenhouse emissions, assuming that this is the main reason for climate change, a further rise in temperatures is to be expected.
"The consequences will be severe, perhaps even catastrophic, for the entire planet," Pavićević added.
He said that the research of the climate body of the United Nations IPCC showed that the average temperature on earth compared to the end of the last century is already higher by 1,1 degrees Celsius, and it is crucial to limit the long-term rise in temperature to 1,5 degrees.
Ivica Seferović, a 20-year-old resident of Old Podgorica, told the MINA agency that summers in Podgorica have always been hot, but that the last XNUMX years have been much warmer than before.
"There was no air conditioning, but we put green blinds on the windows, went to Morača or Cijevna to cool off and, it seems to me, we could bear the heat much easier than today," says Seferović.
He believes that the biggest problem, although the people of Podgorica are generally used to heat, is the continuity of high temperatures.
"It rarely happened before that such high temperatures lasted continuously from the end of May to September," added Seferović.
He points out that the extent of the problems posed by Podgorica's heat can best be seen during the weekend, when the streets are empty and the citizens of Podgorica en masse go to the coast or to the north to cool off.
According to Seferović, the heat is especially difficult to bear at night, when it is over 30 degrees.
"I'm afraid that in the future it could happen that some people from Podgorica, as my parents told me, seek cooling off on the banks of the Morača, where they wore sheets that they soaked and spent the nights by the shore covered in that way," said Seferović.
He believes that the increasing number of buildings and cars has the effect of increasing the temperature or even making the subjective feeling as if it is even hotter.
"In the apartment where I live 25 or 30 years ago, there were only a few cars, and now more than half of the families, of which 50 live in the building, have two or more cars," Seferović said.
He pointed out that Podgorica has recently been greening, which he sees as a good move in the direction of helping citizens to cope with Podgorica's heat.
"I hope that Podgorica will get some more space, following the example of Gorica and Ljubović, where citizens will be able to find a place to escape from the heat," said Seferović.
See more:
Download the app and follow the news
FOLLOW US ON
