CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT ON HIMALAYAN AND COASTAL STATES OF INDIA

CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT ON HIMALAYAN AND COASTAL STATES OF INDIA 

BY EPATYA

Climate change is one of the major challenges of our time and adds considerable stress to our societies and to the environment. From shifting weather patterns that threaten food production, to rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic flooding, the impacts of climate change are global in scope and unprecedented in scale. Without drastic action today, adapting to these impacts in the future will be more difficult and costly.

India will be affected by climate change in following ways:

 Extreme heat: Unusual and unprecedented spells of hot weather are expected to occur far more frequently and cover much larger areas. Under 4°C warming, the west coast and southern India are projected to shift to new, high-temperature climatic regimes with significant impacts on agriculture.

 Changing rainfall patterns: A 2°C rise in the world’s average temperatures will make India’s summer monsoon highly unpredictable. An abrupt change in the monsoon could precipitate a major crisis, triggering more frequent droughts as well as greater flooding in large parts of India. Dry years are expected to be drier and wet years wetter.

 Drought: Droughts are expected to be more frequent in some areas, especially in north-western India, Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh. Crop yields are expected to fall significantly because of extreme heat by the 2040s.

 Glacier melt: At 2.5°C warming, melting glaciers and the loss of snow cover over the Himalayas are expected to threaten the stability and reliability of northern India’s primarily glacier-fed rivers, particularly the Indus and the Brahmaputra. The Ganges will be less dependent on melt water due to high annual rainfall downstream during the monsoon season.

 Sea level rise: Sea-level rise and storm surges would lead to saltwater intrusion in the coastal areas, impacting agriculture, degrading groundwater quality, contaminating drinking water, and possibly causing a rise in diarrhoea cases and cholera outbreaks, as the cholera bacterium survives longer in saline water.

 Agriculture: Seasonal water scarcity, rising temperatures, and intrusion of sea water would threaten crop yields, jeopardizing the country’s food security. Under 2°C warming by the 2050s, the country may need to import more than twice the amount of food-grain than would be required without climate change.

 Energy security: The increasing variability and long-term decreases in river flows can pose a major challenge to hydropower plants and increase the risk of physical damage from landslides, flash floods, glacial lake outbursts, and other climate-related natural disasters.

Impact of climate change on Himalayan states:

 Melting of Himalayan glaciers: due to climate change led global warming; melting of glaciers is continuously rising. There will be more flood events in short term.

 Glacier lake outburst flow: Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) refers to the glacier floods caused by the drainage of naturally dammed lakes in the glacier, on or at the margin of glaciers. It led to flood in Uttarakhand.

 Seasonal rivers in long term: Himalayan Rivers may become seasonal since they get water supply from these glaciers in winter seasons.

 Agriculture: agriculture will be affected due to lack of irrigation facilities due to less water available in the rivers in the long term.

Impact of climate change on coastal states:

 Threat of submergence: coastal cities will face the threat of submergence due to rise in sea level due to the global warming.

 Uneven rainfall pattern: since climate change has impact on south west monsoon, there will be uneven rainfall pattern. This will have further impact on agriculture in the region.

 Migration: due to threat of submergence, there will be more migration cases from coastal cities towards the interior locations.

 Salinization: seal level rise would result in saltwater intrusion in the coastal areas, which would adversely impact agriculture, degrade groundwater quality, contaminate drinking water.

Thus, there is need for adhering to INDCs targets set by the government in accordance with Paris agreement to tackle the climate change.