Impact of Climate Change on India

1
Impact of Climate Changeon India

• By Aileen, DJ and Lee

2
Environmental Impacts

• Himalayan Glaciers are retreating at (on average)
  50ft each year. Thats over an inch and a half
  each day.
• Runoff from the melting glaciers is partly
  responsible for the 75 increase in stream flow
  for the Baspa glacier basin since 1966.
• Increase in floods, disrupting agriculture, and
  local infrastructure.

3
Future

• If the trends continue one global climate model
  predicts that temperatures in India are likely to
  rise by 2 to 3 C by the end of the century if
  greenhouse gas concentrations increase by 1 per
  cent each year.

4
Energy

• Economic growth scenarios predict total power
  generation capacity in India to increase nine
  times between 1995-2100. As a result of climate
  change, it is estimated that approximately 1.5
  more power generation capacity will be required.
• Increases in energy use are the results of the
  effects of climate change.
• Increases in average temperature can result in
  the need for space cooling for buildings, and
  variability in precipitation can impact
  irrigation needs and an increase demand for
  energy from groundwater pumping.

5
Industry

• Climate change impacts on industry, energy and
  transportation largely relate to infrastructure,
  such as transport and distribution systems,
  machinery, power plants, and water and wastewater
  systems.

6
Konkan Railway

• 20 of repair and maintenance expenses are due to
  climatic factors, such as heavy rainfall and
  extreme weather events.
• Temperature increase, rainfall increase, and sea
  level increase will all affect the Railway.
• The railway is the most relied on in the world.

7
Forestry

• 0ver 200,000 villages on India rely on the forest
  for every day life, and so do industries for raw
  materials.
• Climate change is likely to impact forest
  biodiversity. This will in turn impact the supply
  of forest products, as well as the livelihoods of
  forest dependent communities.

8
Agriculture

• Increase temperatures will cause for changes in
  crop type, and amount.
• Increase in precipitation will cause for floods,
  and the variability of precipitation will cause
  for new irrigation systems.
• India has about 16 of the global population, but
  it only has 4 of total water resources, and many
  parts of India already face water scarcity.

9
Climate Change

• Decline in rainfall frequency
• High amount of rainfall in a short period of time
• Temperature increase
• Sea level increase

10
What is affected

• Water resources
• Agriculture
• Forests and natural ecosystems
• Coastal zones
• Health
• Energy
• Infrastructure

11
Water resources

• Decline in rainfall frequency reduces
  availability of freshwater
• High amount of rainfall in a short period of time
  causes flooding, resulting in water contamination

12
Agriculture

• Most vulnerable to climate change
• Crop growth and yield
• Most states have rain-fed agriculture
• 64 of the population rely on agriculture
• Agriculture sector composes 19.9 of Indias GDP
  (2005 est.)
• The agriculture sector employs 60 of the country

13
Agriculture

• Pests associated with climate change
• Irrigation water availability

14
Forests and Natural Ecosystems

• Desertification of forests
• Change or loss of biodiversity
• Ecosystems threatened
• Mangroves, coral reefs, grasslands

15
Coastal Zones

• Rising sea levels
• Storm surges
• Land loss
• Population displacement
• Coastal tourism erosion of sandy beaches

16
Health

• Stagnant water from previous floods give rise to
  disease-carrying mosquitos
• Malaria, dengue, yellow fever
• Contaminated water
• Diarrhea, cholera, poisoning
• Drought-related tick-borne diseases
• Lyme disease, encephalitis
• Heatwaves and flash floods

17
Energy

• Increased temperatures will result in higher
  energy consumption
• Cooling residences and transportation
• Irrigation of agriculture
• Increased groundwater pumping demand

18
Infrastructure

• Flooding
• Landslides and erosion

19
Global vs Regional Climate Models

• More uncertainty in regional models
• Limited resolution

20
National vs RegionalClimate Projections

• Spatial resolution of climate models
• Uncertainty

21
Weather stations in India
http//lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/img/climate/online/doe/in
dia.gif
22
Form Indias Perspective

• Some Background Info
• Overpopulation
• India is a very diverse country
• Different people are effected by climate change
  in different ways

23
India and the Kyoto Protocol

• Under the Kyoto Protocol, India was exempt from
  reducing their emissions for the time being.
• The reasoning
• Most of the human induced carbon in the
  atmosphere today is the result of emissions from
  developed countries since the industrial
  revolution.

24
Why India is doing next to Nothing

• India argues that since the CO2 in the atmosphere
  is from developed countries (not developing
  countries like themselves) it is the
  responsibility of the developed countries to do
  something about it.

25
Furthermore

• Since India is still a developing country,
  putting limits on its emissions will slow down
  its development and cripple it economically.
• As a developing country, India has a lot on its
  plate already. At some point they will be stable
  enough to take on global warming but at the
  moment they cant.