Have you herd of the term “Urban heat islands”? Next time your old uncle complains of rising temperatures in Mysore, you may want to listen more closely. UHIs are urban areas that are significantly warmer than their surrounding rural landscapes. The main causes of UHIs are typical “urbanization” strategies…tarred roads, RCC buildings, loss of garden spaces/ farms etc. UHIs modify rainfall and warming patterns of not just the city, but its surrounding rural/forest areas too. See this wiki note on UHIs for more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_heat_island. You could also check out http://www.urbanheatislands.com/.
Urban tree plantations are important UHI mitigation strategies. So, what FORT Mysore is trying to promote is a very important activity which will ensure Mysore remains cooler, Mysoreans use less energy to keep their homes/offices cool, and that Mysore does not alter rainfall or temperature patterns of its surrounding rural landscapes too drastically.
There has also been a lot of talk about “Green highways” in the developed world. For example, see http://www.astm.org/SNEWS/SO_2008/bryce_so08.html. In the Bangalore-Mysore region, we seem to be taking a few steps backwards…by replacing our tree-lined highway with a cemented four-lane “hot”way.
These informative research articles might interest some of you:
http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/programs/cufr/products/1/psw_cufr746_energyconspotential.pdf
http://www.neduet.edu.pk/Arch_2Jne/Arch11/JRAP-2001/JRAP%201/Heat%20Island-New.pdf
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