Climate Changes over the Indian Subcontinent: Scenarios and Impacts

Abstract

It has now been well established that the rise in global mercury has driven climate change phenomena that have led to extreme temperature events, sea level rise, change in the hydrological cycle, frequent droughts and floods, and cyclones and forest fires and caused a myriad of adverse impacts on vital worldwide sectors such as agriculture, water and health. The impact of climate change is anticipated to be more adverse for destitute and socioeconomically deprived populations from developing and underdeveloped nations owing to poor adaptive capacity and higher sensitivity. The present chapter focuses on the Indian context, where it presents shreds of evidence of the impact of climate change in the past, present and future such as extreme events like heat waves, diurnal temperature range, shrinking of Himalayan glaciers, shifting of rainfall patterns, increased susceptibility to floods and droughts, and its impact on some of the important sectors. The chapter shows clear evidence of a decline in crop production and productivity of some of the important crops such as wheat, rice, sugarcane, maize, potato, tomato, etc. The recent studies established an increase in morbidity and mortality associated with extreme temperature and poor air quality associated with increased particulate matter (PM), NOx, SOx, O3, black carbon and other ambient pollutants. In addition, important river basins of India, such as Gomti, Gandak, Vaigai, Mahi, Varuna and Ghaghra, have shown increased susceptibility to flooding and drought events that are more likely to be frequent and severe in the future under different climate change scenarios owing to changes in erratic rainfall patterns and increasing temperature. The chapter also discusses the potential adaptation and mitigation strategies that would help policymakers to combat climate change amid the rising susceptible population. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.