A climate vulnerability index for India
Headline : A climate vulnerability index for India
Details :
News Summary
- India will soon have a climate-vulnerability index which will be developed by Department of Science and Technology(DST).
- It is being modeled on the basis of a similar climate-vulnerability assessment done on 12 Himalayan states in 2018.
Climate Vulnerability Index
- The Climate Vulnerability Index will be developed on the basis of a study being carried out assessing the climate risks faced across all states.
- The DST will also develop a Climate Portal that presents district-wise data relating to climate vulnerability.
- Vulnerability would be a measure of the inherent risks a district faces, primarily by virtue of its geography and socio-economic situation.
- The districts will be assigned a value between 0 to 1, 1 indicating the highest level of vulnerability.
- Parameters: The index will be developed based on 8 key parameters
- Percentage of area under forests
- Yield variability of food grain
- Population density
- Female literacy rate
- Infant mortality rate
- Percentage of population below poverty line
- Average man-days under MGNREGA
- Area under slope greater than 30%.
Need for the vulnerability index
- Climate variability in temperature and rainfall affect biophysical and socio-economic environment.
- Climate variability exposes environment to the following adverse effects:
- Land degradation
- Deforestation
- Proliferation of invasive species
- Loss of biodiversity
- Landslides
- Invasion of commercial crops
- Low productive agriculture
- Changed livelihood patterns
- Marginalization and consequent Migration
Background
- In the backdrop of COP-24 at Katowice Poland, India had had done a study to assess climate vulnerability of 12 Himalayan States.
- The Himalayan states include Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, hill districts of West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir.
Importance of the study
- Himalayan ecosystem is vital to the ecological security of the India due to following:
- Plays a crucial role in providing forest cover
- Feeds perennial rivers that are the source of drinking water, irrigation, and hydropower
- Biodiversity conservation
- Rich base for high-value agriculture
- Sustainable tourism
Section : Environment & Ecology
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