HYDERABAD: Former ISRO chairman K Kasturirangan today said it was unfortunate that research on climate change was not a top priority for Indian students.

"It is unfortunate that climate change research is not the top priority among students. A (research) programme of this magnitude certainly calls for increased participation from universities. Ministry of Earth Sciences may ensure sufficient university participation in its national programmes," Kasturirangan said.

He was speaking at the inauguration of two-day national workshop on 'Science of Climate Change: Indian Ocean and Monsoon' at Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services ( INCOIS) here.

"Climate change is not just a science problem anymore, but includes a number of issues...international policy, insurance, health, economics and law. Understanding of climate change is essential for our country in many areas such as water security, food security, clean air, health and even our economy. We need a common understanding of the challenges, the prospects and opportunities for a collective and coordinated action," he emphasised.

Stating that in India surface temperature is often looked at as a proxy to assess the impact of climate change, Kasturirangan said that "there are factors much more important than just temperature. For example, consider the monsoon and associated rainfall. Our nation's agriculture at large and economy significantly depends on the monsoon rainfall. It is important to know how much monsoon rains we would receive."

"Even though no significant trends are seen in the amount of rainfall, its regional distribution has shown substantial variations of late, which is a cause of major concern," he warned.

Climate change studies require high speed computing, but there are computational challenges in climate modelling, he said.

"In the Indian context, a Petaflop computing capability for climate modelling at least by 2015 is essential for any further progress... it is being established," Kasturirangan said.