Systematic review of observed climate change adaptation in Gujarat
Introduction
From the mid-twentieth century, the dynamics of climate change started to be observed and Gujarat has remained no exception to this phenomenon. Scientific discourse initially dubbed these environmental changes as cyclical patterns but soon it they were identified to be a trend. Gujarat is an area with semi-arid zones and entails thelongest coastline. These peculiar features make the state comparatively more prone to climate change. Agricultural growth, food security, human health, biodiversity, and overall development could be at serious risk if the matter is not addressed upon in a punctual and logical way.
Over 650 million Indians depend on climate-sensitive sectors like agriculture, forestry and fishery for their livelihoods. The adverse impacts of water availability due to change in rainfall, increased flooding in certain areas and recession of glaciers combined with increased water demand due to demographic development and climate change could threaten food security, destabilize the natural ecosystems including species that sustain the livelihood of rural households and impact the coastal system due to sea level rise and increased extreme weather events (Garg et al. 2007).
Majority of Indian’s livelihoods are dependent upon land and water based occupational functions such as agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry and fisheries. India’s total land is about 329 million hectares, out of which 175 million hectares of land is non-productive hence non-profitable and therefore it requires special treatment for the same reason. In India, water availability situation is murky because of spatial and temporal variability. Both these factors are forecaste...
... middle of paper ...
...he total expenditure amount, was borne by the beneficiary. For the construction of farm ponds in the village, minimum contribution of twenty percent was to be made by the villagers.
Output
Annual rainwater harvesting potential is shown in Table 2 whereas Table 3 shows the change in water depth in the wells before and after the interventions (SEEDS 2005).
Table 2
Table 3
Sr. No. Name of beneficiary Year & month Well depth (ft.) Water depth in well (ft.) No's of well in surrounding Surface catchments area (Hector) Water level in well after 1 rain (ft.)
1 Devshi Giga Bhutia 2004 July 85 5 20 2 10
2 RambhaiSindhal 2004 July 70 25 10 41 65
3 BharatbhaiMashribhaiBhutia 2004 July 100 40 15 41 90
4 BhanubhaiRamabhaiRatadia 2004 July 90 5 10 32 80
5 VirambhaiRambhaiAudedra 2004 July 72 15 10 10 28
6 ParbatbhaiArjanbhaiAudedra 2004 July 80 10 10 6 25
As explained by Rosenzwig, “We are already seeing major impacts of climate change on agriculture: droughts leading to crop loss and salinization of soils, flooding causing waterlogged soils, longer growing seasons leading to new and more pest pressures, and erratic weather shifting harvesting seasons” (854). We know agriculture and fisheries are highly dependent on specific climatic condition. Increases in temperature and carbon dioxide can be beneficial for some crops in some places. But to realize these benefits, nutrient levels, soil moisture, water availability, and other conditions must also be met. Changes in the frequency and severity of droughts and floods have posed challenges for farmers and ranchers. Meanwhile, warmer water temperatures are likely to cause the habitat ranges of many fish and shellfish species to shift, which could disrupt ecosystems. Overall, this climate change has made it more difficult to grow crops, raise animals, and catch fish in the same ways and same places as we have done in the
Earth’s average temperature has increased about 0.8 degrees Celsius since 1880 and another degree could cause even more problems than there already are. Climate change is an important issue to be aware of because it is real and it affects you and the things around you each and every day. Every day animals lose habitats and die because climate change caused there home to burn, or their food sources started to deplete, etc. Along with these, more and more CO2 is being released into the air due to wildfires burning which is causing the atmosphere to heat even more. With the temperature increasing the oceans will become warmer and evaporation and rainfall patterns will change which will affect humans and animals, because we all work together in a system. There are many consequences of climate change like human health issues, and more animals becoming endangered, but the most important consequence is the rising amounts of wildfires.
Irrigated agriculture represents the bulk of demand for water resources worldwide and accounts for 85% of water withdrawals in the MENA region. This water used for irrigation is water that could be used in other ways, including domestic and manufacturing use. In the MENA region, having such a huge portion of their freshwater withdrawals used in the agriculture process is a main factor causing the very low per capita water quantity of <1000 cubic metres per year. Due to its poverty and less developed economic status, the MENA region lacks efficient agricultural technology which would see a decrease in water wasted in the process and an increase in water leftover for human use, therefore a greater quantity of water available per capita. MENA’s average water use efficiency in irrigation is only 50 to 60 percent, compared to best-practice examples of above 80 percent efficiency under similar climatic conditions in Australia and Southwest USA. Because agriculture is necessary to sustain populations the main solution to decrease both water use and water wastage in this sector is to increase efficiency of irrigation by creating new technologies to replace current inefficient ones, especially in countries with water
Introduction The available water in India has declined drastically over the past several decades due to the rise in demand for water sources across almost every industry. This shortage has greatly affected all activity in India, including the agricultural industry and the available drinking water for domestic life. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, or the FOA, believes that India will literally run out of water if certain steps are not taken to replenish India’s aquifers. To fully grasp the matter, an explanation of the problem is given below. The main cause for concern is that India’s flourishing agricultural industry uses the 91% of water throughout the country, leaving aquifers at lower levels every year.
The phrase “water is life” has been uttered so many times that it is shockingly simple not to deliberate deeply upon its meaning. However, when one examines the statistics as to the usage of water, one comes to the rather startling realization that this precious commodity is indeed the very engineer of life as it is fundamental for the activities on earth which directly or indirectly support life (examples are agriculture, industry which results in jobs, etc). Hence, it goes without saying that countries would want to assess as to how much water they have for the purpose of meeting human needs as well as combating possible deficits. As the availability of water is uneven over space and time (Christopherson), different places receive varying amounts of water over different time periods. Some places receive water abundantly for most of the time while others receive very little precipitation in a whole season, even though all places need the water. For this reason, many solutions have been proposed in order to counter the water-deficiency problem; one such remedy is that of inter-basin transfer schemes. This assignment will focus on one of the inter-basin water transfer schemes in Southern Africa- the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. It will elaborate on what the transfer scheme is consisted of, its purpose, its benefits, setbacks, impacts and its current state, as well as whether it has managed to or failed to live up to its purpose and the lessons that have been learned as a result of its existence.
Climate includes temperature, rainfall, wind and other weather conditions over a larger region and on a longer time frame unlike weather. On the other hand, change is the act or a process through which something becomes different. In lame man’s language, climate change is the alteration of weather conditions in a huge area over a long period of time. Hence, this concept is usually referred to as the concept of global climate change. According to the UNDP (2009), climate change is a scientifically proven phenomenon that includes any change in the climate, whether due to its natural variability or as a result of human activity. UNFCCC (1992), defines climate change as change which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activities that
Water is a finite resource that plays an important role in all aspects of human life. However the demands of water supply are increasing due to population increase, economic activity, and the impacts of climate change [2]. It is estimated that about 1.2 billion people in the global population live in areas where water is scarce [1]. Approximately 7130 km3 of water is evapotranspirated by crops per year worldwide, biofuel crops account for an additional 100 km3 of water that is evapotranspirat...
Climate Change is any substantial change in climate that lasts for an extended period of time. One contributor to current climate change is global warming, which is an increase in Earth’s average temperature. Plants and animal species throughout the world are being affected by rising temperatures. Many plants are flowering earlier now than they once did; animals, such as the yellowbellied marmot, are emerging from hibernation earlier; and many bird and butterfly species are migrating north and breeding earlier in the spring than they did a few decades ago, all because of slight changes in temperature cues. (Shuster)
The problem of water scarcity has increasingly spread throughout the world as of yet, The UN reports that within the next half- century up to 7 billion people in 60 countries which is more than the whole present population will face water scarcity (Sawin “Water Scarcity could Overwhelm the Next Generation”). As well the demand for freshwater has tripled over the past 50 years, and is continuing to rise as a result of population growth and economic development. 70% of this demand derives from agriculture which shows the influence of water on food supply globally as well not just drinking water (Sawin “Water Scarcity could overwhelm the Next Generation”). But increasing water use is not just a matter of the greater number of people needing it to drink and eat; it also comes from pollution and misuse of water supplies, by either dumping or runoff of bacteria or chemicals into water. This also “causes other pollutions as well such as soil and air pollution, accelerating wetland damage and human caused global warming” (Smith and Thomassey 25). According to UN report, recent estimates suggest that climate change will account for about 20 percent of the increase in global water scarcity in coming decades.
According to the Canada’s Action on Climate Change, Climate change is a long-term shift in weather conditions identified by changes in temperature, precipitation, winds, and other indicators. Climate change can involve both changes in average conditions and changes in variability, including, for example, extreme events. Climate change is one of the biggest crisis in the earth. It will cause a huge damage to the eco-system and human. We are the victims of the climate change. However, we are the one who cause the climate change.
Be it in Africa, where fresh water scarcity has been a thing for ages, to India, where farming has had to adjust due to the lack of fresh water, or California where wells have already begun to run dry in certain counties, fresh water scarcity is spreading and fast. Many argue about what to do about it, some call for policy changes as well as production changes. One suggestion was that “Water professionals need to communicate these concerns better, and policymakers need to be more water-aware”. (Molden, De Fraiture, Rijbermen, 39) Another suggested changes to farming, claiming that while irrigation farming is generally the favored choice when it comes to growing crops, this method of farming is exactly why so much water is needed, as irrigation farming tends to use a lot of water and energy, this supported by the face that “Intensive irrigation has led to closed basins where all water is allocated to specific uses, including water for the environment. In fact, irrigation has been the single most important reason for closing river basins and creating physical water scarcity” (Molden, De Fraiture, Rijbermen, 45). It must also be taken into account that water is often used to create energy in the first place, leading to a very intense compounding of the situation. Some have even suggested dry land farming as a solution, as dry land farming tends to support water
Sandra Postel, on the other hand, has a different opinion than Danielle’s. She proposed that “without increasing water productivity in irrigation, major food-producing regions will not have enough water to sustain crop production”.
all the time. The greenhouse effect is a natural process that keeps the earth at temperatures that
Climate change is caused due to the release of few carbon compounds into the atmosphere, which drastically brought the weather changes all over the world. Climate change is not confined to a single region. It has become an important issue all over the world for the past few years.
Water is an integral part of not only human beings but all other creatures in the world. We use it every day for different purposes such as domestic, agricultural and industrial. Water has always been a prestigious resource. However, the majority of people do not appraise water’s worth since they do not face water scarcity; whereas, in third world countries it is one of the most serious problems. Nearly 2.4 billion people have a lack of water resources in the world, shows the investigation done by the Pacific Institute, an Oakland, California-based non-profit scientific research group. Moreover, every year this number is growing gradually and more people are suffering (Bloomberg News, 2010). There are certain causes which deteriorate current situation. The most influential reasons are global warming, pollution by human-beings and overpopulation. It is known that India is one of the countries which face water scarcity so this essay will consider the possible ways of solutions of water shortage in India.