Impact of Climate Change

on India
By PRAKASH JHA
 Environmental Impacts
• Himalayan Glaciers are retreating at (on average) 50ft each year. That’s 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.

 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 Climate Change
• Decline in rainfall frequency
• High amount of rainfall in a short period of
time
• Temperature increase
• Sea level increase
 What is affected
• Water resources
• Agriculture
• Forests and natural ecosystems
• Coastal zones
• Health
• Energy
• Infrastructure
 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
 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 India’s GDP (2005 est.)

• The agriculture sector employs 60% of the country

 Agriculture
• Pests associated with climate change

• Irrigation water availability

Forests and Natural Ecosystems

• Desertification of forests
– Change or loss of biodiversity

• Ecosystems threatened
– Mangroves, coral reefs, grasslands
 Coastal Zones
• Rising sea levels
– Storm surges
– Land loss
– Population displacement
– Coastal tourism: erosion of sandy beaches
 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
 Energy
• Increased temperatures will result in
higher energy consumption
– Cooling: residences and transportation
– Irrigation of agriculture
– Increased groundwater pumping demand
 Infrastructure
• Flooding
– Landslides and erosion
 Global vs Regional
Climate Models
• More uncertainty in regional models
• Limited resolution
 National vs Regional
Climate Projections
• Spatial resolution of climate models

• Uncertainty
Weather stations in India

http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/img/climate/online/doe/india.gif
 Form India’s Perspective
• Some Background Info:
– Overpopulation
– India is a very diverse country
– Different people are effected by climate
change in different ways
 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.
 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.
 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 can’t.
THANK YOU