Geography students in Kerala schools to study climate change at new weather stations. Here's why this is special

In a first, weather stations will be set up in close to 250 higher secondary and vocational higher secondary schools in the state where Geography is being taught. The project envisioned by Samagra Shiksha Kerala (SSK) aims to learn about climate change at the micro-level and to collate the weather data daily to facilitate a higher-level comprehensive analysis. "The project will be rolled out in June — at the start of the next academic year. Each school will have 13 pieces of equipment, including a rain gauge, wind-wave, thermometer, monitor and weather data bank. The handbook for Geography teachers is being readied," said a state-level SSK officer, who wished for anonymity.

Institutions such as the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM) in Kozhikode and the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) in Thiruvananthapuram had agreed to provide the technical support. The weather station project is being implemented in government schools in the first phase and is expected to be inaugurated at Vayala Vasudevan Pillai Memorial Government HSS in Kollam. In Kozhikode district, the project is coming up in 18 government schools. "The purpose is to decentralise the process of analysing climate change. The weather pattern may vary from one ward to the neighbouring ward at the local level. This has to be collated on a daily basis and subjected to serious analysis. This became pertinent in the wake of recurrent floods and landslides in our state," said SSK Kozhikode district coordinator AK Abdul Hakeem. 

According to him, this is a first-of-its-kind project at the school level in the entire country. "The Geography students will observe the amount of rain received, the pace of the wind, atmospheric pressure and other parameters on a daily basis and upload the data on the SSK website. This micro-level data could be used by meteorologists and weather experts across the globe to arrive at the precise forecast," Hakeem added. The Geography teachers will coordinate the activities of the weather station.