Abundant snow and cold weather of this year is not an anomalous phenomenon. Zaruhi Petrosyan, the head of the Hayhidromet Center at the Ministry of Emergency Situations, appeased journalists and our population at the Henaran Club today. According to her, it has snowed every February since 1964. In Zaruhi Petrosyan’s opinion, it will stop snowing this evening and on February 18-20, there will be precipitation again. In the afternoon of February 19, precipitation will stop. The head of the Hayhidromet Center assures that it will be a bit cold tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, it will be a bit warmer. One should wait for another 10 days and after February 25, the temperature will increase – the spring will arrive. However, according to Ms. Petrosyan, the residents of Yerevan will feel the spring on February 25, whereas there will be a severe winter in the region of Shirak.
Trees will blossom a bit later this year and according to Zaruhi Petrosyan, when there is a cold weather, the nature will still be sleeping, which is a guarantee that there will be no frost. And abundant snow signals the approach of the spring. Talking about the climate changes around the world and their impact on Armenia, Ms. Petrosyan said, “Generally there is nothing to be afraid of and the nature reinforces itself, if human doesn’t interfere. The disruption of any balance causes negative phenomena. The problem is that human should not interfere with the nature so as not to cause a disruption of its ordinary course.”
According to Diana Harutyunyan, the coordinator of the Climate Change Projection, present at the press conference, the researches in the period between 1961 and 1990 revealed that the temperature in Armenia had increased by 0.85%, there are hot summers and little precipitation, “All climate phenomena – hail, strong winds, drought, precipitation etc. – have increased 1.2 times, which has had a negative impact on our economy.”
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In response to a question of Aravot.am whether we didn’t cause more negative impact on our ecosystem by the mining industry actively operating in Armenia these days at the expense of deforestation and changing courses of rivers, Diana Harutyunyan said, “Preservation of forests is very important for climate changes. It is undoubtedly a negative impact. It is obvious that our economy must develop. Mining industry ought to develop too, but it is done openly, which is cheap. One should use tax leverage to reduce tailings.”
Ms. Harutyunyan says that one should use new technology and such mechanisms that will restrain the aggressive mining industry of today, which has an impact not only on forests, but also on the flora, the quality of water, which in turn influences agriculture and human health, “It is clear that encroachments on nature will not remain unpunished. The current climate changes are a result of that.”
Nelly BABAYAN
