Global warming and its impacts on climate of Indiaby Dharmendra Kapri | 21-08-2016 20:39 |
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Global warming is the ?talk of the town? in this century, with its detrimental effects already being brought to limelight by the recurring events of massive floods, annihilating droughts and ravaging cyclones throughout the globe. The average global temperatures are higher than they have ever been during the past millennium, and the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere have crossed all previous records. A scrutiny of the past records of 100 years indicates that India figures in the first 10 in the world in terms of fatalities and economic losses in a variety of climatic disasters. No one knows how much warming is "safe". What we do know is that climate change is already harming people and ecosystems. Its reality can be seen in melting glaciers, disintegrating polar ice, thawing permafrost, changing monsoon patterns, rising sea levels, changing ecosystems and fatal heat waves. An introduction to the profile of India India is the second most populous country of the world with a population over 1.2 billion. India lies to the north of the equator between 6?44? and 35?30? north latitude and 68?7? and 97?25? east longitude. It shares a coast line of 7517 km with the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. It has land boundaries with Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma and Bangladesh. Climate of India India exhibits a wide diversity of temperatures. The Himalayas participate in warming by preventing the cold winds from blowing in, and the Thar desert attracts the summer monsoon winds, which are responsible for making the majority of the monsoon season of India. However, the majority of the regions can be considered climatically tropical.
The climate of India is dominated by the monsoon season, which is the most important season of India, providing 80% of the annual rainfall. The season extends from June to September with an average annual rainfall between 750,500 mm across the region. The monsoon of India is regarded as the most productive wet season on the earth. IMPACTS OF GLOBAL WARMING ON CLIMATE OF INDIA There has been a particularly alarming effect of global warming on the climate of India. India is already a disaster prone area, with the statistics of 27 out of 35 states being disaster prone, with most disasters being water related. The process of global warming has led to an increase in the frequency and intensity of these climatic disasters. According to surveys, in the year 2007-2008, India ranked the third highest in the world regarding the number of significant disasters, with 18 such events in one year, resulting in the death of 1103 people due to these catastrophes. With the increasing trends of global warming, predictions of severer climatic events have been made for India. The anticipated increase in precipitation, the melting of glaciers and expanding seas are projected to influence the Indian climate particularly severely, with an increase in incidence of floods, hurricanes, and storms. Global warming is also posing as a mammoth threat to the foods security situation in India with recurring and severe droughts and ravaging floods engulfing the arable land. Rising Temperatures on the Tibetan Plateau are causing the melting of the Himalayan glaciers, reducing the water flow in the rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra, Yamuna, and other major rivers, on which the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of farmers depend.
According to the The Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, if the process of global warming continues to increase, resulting climatic disasters would cause a decrease in India?s GDP to decline by about 9%, with a decrease by 40% of the production of the major crops. A temperature increase of 2 ?C in India is projected to displace seven million people, with a submersion of the major cities of India like Mumbai and Chennai. Recent climatic disasters in India due to global warming Floods in India
India is the most flood distressed state in the world after Bangladesh, accounting for 1/ 5th of the global deaths every year with 30 million people displaced from their homes yearly. Approximately 40 million hectares of the land is vulnerable to floods, with 8 million hectares affected by it. Unprecedented floods take place every year at one place or the other, with the most vulnerable states of India being Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, West Bengal, Gujarat, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir. The climatic history of India is studded with a very large number of floods, which have wreaked havoc on the country?s economy. The top floods in India?s history 1. 1987 Bihar Flood : The flood of 1987 in Bihar was so destructive that it left a total of 1400 people and more than 5000 animal dead. A total of 67,881+680.86 lac INR was the damage to the state affecting more than 29 million people. After this flood, the River Koshi has been named as? Sorrow of Bihar? (Bihar kashok).
2. 2008 Bihar floods: The 2008 Bihar floods are considered as one of the most disastrous floods in the state?s history. The flood affected more than 2 million people. The flooded and affected areas were Supaul, Araria, Madhepura, Saharsa, Champaran and Purnea. Other major floods in India 1. 2005: Maharashtra flood: In 2005, a major climatic catastrophe occurred in the state of Maharashtra in the form of massive floorings, leading to a death toll of 5000 people. The areas of Mumbai, Chiplun, Khed, Kalyan, Ratnagiri and Raigad were completely flooded, hence naming the date 26 July 2005 as the BLACK DAY in the history of Mumbai.
2. 2005: Gujarat Floods: The wave of floods in Maharashtra reached the state of Gujarat as well, accounting for one of the worst floods in the Indian History as it caused a financial loss of more than Rs.800 million. This disaster took place in a row of days from 30th June to July 11, killing more than 123 people and a total of 250k people were evacuated. Infrastructure of the state also suffered badly as train services, Road Operations and communications were destroyed. Other climatic disasters in India Droughts: Of the total agricultural land in India, about 68% is prone to drought of which 33% is chronically drought prone, receiving rainfall of less than 750mm per year. This is particularly the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. The World Record for Drought was in 2000 in Rajasthan, India. According to researches, unabated global warming will lead to exacerbation of the droughts, cutting down the water availability in the plains of Pradesh and Bihar. India?s initial National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention (UNFCCC) on Climate Change projects that Luni the west flowing rivers of Kutchh and Saurashtra are likely to experience acute physical water scarcity. The river basins of Mahi, Pennar, Sabarmati and Tapi are also likely to experience constant water scarcities and shortages.
The Indian economy is considered as one of the fastest growing major economies. However, the country is plagued by climatic disasters that continue to wreak havoc on its economy. As a result, majority of the people of India continue to live in poverty, with malnutrition and diseases corroding the society. In this light, a comprehensive mitigation and adaptation plan needs to be drafted and implemented for better preparation and response to such climate disasters that are generated as a result of global warming. STEPS REQUIRED BY THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT TO MITIGATE GLOBAL WARMING AND RESULTING CLIMATIC DIASTERS- In spite of the steps taken by the Indian government, global warming continues to increase, and the resulting climatic disasters ravage the country in an unabated manner. This can be attributed to the lack of resources, and access to technology. To cope up with the climate change-disasters-security nexus, the country needs to have a better technical understanding, capacity building, networking and expansive consultation processes spanning every section of the society. The committees and organizations working to counteract against the climatic disasters work independently from each other. The ongoing climatic changes, with an increase in a possibility of more disasters impose imperatives for a unity among all these bodies, resulting in an integrated risk management framework, creating a common platform for the committees to work on.
India has a distinctive vulnerability profile as the poor are the most affected. Tremendous weather events take place more frequently and are becoming more ruthless. Therefore the previous attempts of just rescuing the affected will not be enough now, instead, meticulous steps to prevent these disasters are required. This can only be met if the strategies and policies can cope with climate change, requiring the active participation of the government and the people. References- http://www.greenpeace.org/india/en/What-We-Do/Stop-Climate-Change/Climate-Impacts/
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