Oct 29 2014 : The Economic Times (Delhi)
Climate Challenges in India
NAMRATA KOHLI
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Rising seas, droughts and wildfires, severe storms, hurricanes and floods vagaries of nature are becoming more pronounced with each passing day
The earth is puffy with heat-trapping carbondioxide, which threatens large-scale disruptions in climate. Evidence of this is visible in the form of drastic variations in rain pattern, extreme hot and cold periods, even glaciers shrinkage worldwide affecting run-off and water resources downstream.Every other day a new natural calamity is striking some part of the globe, followed by another, each time increasing the level of ferocity. Take the case of recent hudhud cyclone in coastal Andhra Pradesh which wreaked havoc in the coastal areas especially in the city of Vishakapatnam, or the recent floods in Jammu & Kashmir where heavy rainfalls battered the western Himalayas killing over 400 people and displacing thousands of them, or the case of Uttarakhand cloudburst which culminated in the most devastating flood and landslides, killing over 5,000 people. Destruction of bridges and roads left about 100,000 pilgrims and tourists trapped in the valleys of Hindu pilgrimage sites.
Islands of heat that are getting formed nowadays make it unbearable for all living beings. Irregularities in weather have a direct impact on farming industry and agriculture. This is impacting the crop yield especially that of wheat and maize. Reductions in crop yield leads to increased food prices and also creates food insecurity which adversely affects the poor.
But who is the culprit for all this. Changes in the environment pattern are brought about not in a day, but over a sustained period of unplanned construction of buildings and roads, especially in the floodplains of the rivers and the banks of the lakes; cutting of trees for uncontrolled construction in the hills, rampant and unchecked dumping of garbage in the rivers and lakes; overuse of chemical fertilizers by farmers.
Global warming has led to increase in average temperatures thereby resulting in faster rate of melting of glaciers and polar ice caps. It has been projected that the many islands will get submerged by mid 21st century with the rise in sea level.Coastal systems and low-lying areas will experience adverse impacts such as submergence, coastal flooding, and coastal erosion. Global marine-species redistribution and marinebiodiversity reduction in sensitive regions will challenge the sustained provision of fisheries productivity and other ecosystem services. Many terrestrial, freshwater, and marine species have shifted their geographic ranges, seasonal activities, migration patterns, abundances, and species interactions in response to ongoing climate change. Spatial shifts of marine species due to projected warming will cause high-latitude invasions and high local extinction rates in the tropics and semi-enclosed seas. Species richness and fisheries catch potential are projected to increase, on average, at mid and high latitudes and decrease at tropical latitudes. Climate change will impact human health mainly by exacerbating health problems that already exist. Throughout the 21st century, climate change is expected to lead to increases in ill-health in many regions and especially in developing countries with low income, as compared to a baseline without climate change.
Islands of heat that are getting formed nowadays make it unbearable for all living beings. Irregularities in weather have a direct impact on farming industry and agriculture. This is impacting the crop yield especially that of wheat and maize. Reductions in crop yield leads to increased food prices and also creates food insecurity which adversely affects the poor.
But who is the culprit for all this. Changes in the environment pattern are brought about not in a day, but over a sustained period of unplanned construction of buildings and roads, especially in the floodplains of the rivers and the banks of the lakes; cutting of trees for uncontrolled construction in the hills, rampant and unchecked dumping of garbage in the rivers and lakes; overuse of chemical fertilizers by farmers.
Global warming has led to increase in average temperatures thereby resulting in faster rate of melting of glaciers and polar ice caps. It has been projected that the many islands will get submerged by mid 21st century with the rise in sea level.Coastal systems and low-lying areas will experience adverse impacts such as submergence, coastal flooding, and coastal erosion. Global marine-species redistribution and marinebiodiversity reduction in sensitive regions will challenge the sustained provision of fisheries productivity and other ecosystem services. Many terrestrial, freshwater, and marine species have shifted their geographic ranges, seasonal activities, migration patterns, abundances, and species interactions in response to ongoing climate change. Spatial shifts of marine species due to projected warming will cause high-latitude invasions and high local extinction rates in the tropics and semi-enclosed seas. Species richness and fisheries catch potential are projected to increase, on average, at mid and high latitudes and decrease at tropical latitudes. Climate change will impact human health mainly by exacerbating health problems that already exist. Throughout the 21st century, climate change is expected to lead to increases in ill-health in many regions and especially in developing countries with low income, as compared to a baseline without climate change.
