kochi a study by the world resources institute wri on the citys vulnerability to climate change finds that at least 31 of the citys population is exposed to temperatures above 30 degrees on an averagethe report gains relevance as the intergovernmental panel on climate change ipcc has indicated that climate change has set in and warned of a sealevel rise for coastal cities including kochiit noted that mercury levels are consistently higher than earlier years it looked at city temperatures in various local areas from 20172020 using satellite remote sensing data core city areas like edappally jawaharlal nehru stadium ernakulam market cochin shipyard changampuzha park mangalavanam mattancherry and fort kochi had average temperatures varying from 29 to 32 degrees even in winters which is normally when there is no cloud coverthe report which is part of documenting vision for a resilient kochi points out that drought and flood risks are a concern too while the campaign for green and open spaces has been taken up by several ngos it had only been paper promises for authorities in most neighbourhood local bodies apart from the kochi corporation wris resource person in kochi aparna vijayakumar said that only 04 percent of the total area of the local body has open and green spaces open spaces are key indicators to ensure a healthy and inclusive city they are also imperative for vulnerable communities to seek refuge in times of disaster she saidthough the satellite images of kochi show lots of green areas in truth most of these are wild shrubs we have found very few spaces which have trees that can be looked at as urban forestry or tree canopy said achu shekar of wriindia the city which is exposed to heat and flooding has 47 builtup cover and 26 of the population live on the flood plains it has remained vulnerable to sudden rainfall events since 2018 areas of south kochi and southern fort kochi with high population are highly susceptible to floodingit is not surprising considering that people are in a hurry to cut down trees and plant exotics as a member of the district tree cutting committee i have often found that if a member opposes the cutting plan then the committee will just meet without that person and clear the project said cm joy an environmentalist and former member of ernakulam tree cutting committeehe said that beyond trees one of the greatest carbon sinks have been mangroves which have been part of the kochi city and its waterbound areas including islands we dont realize its value it not only tolerates salinity but also helps in preventing sea surges and capturing greenhouse gases joy saidwith kochi becoming part of the global cities fighting climate change it has become important for the city administrators to plan projects giving importance to climate resilience and will need to work with agencies recognized by the environment ministry and urban affairs ministry to put documents in place for funding agencies to clear projects for urban