-------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Add your name to the CLEAN GOA INITIATIVE | | | | by visiting this link and following the instructions therein | | | | http://shire.symonds.net/pipermail/goanet/2005-October/033926.html | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Climate change threatens India: study
Chennai: Teak and sal forests may dry out, the production of wheat, rice and other major crops could fall and monsoon rainfall will rise, predicts a study on the drastic impact of climate change in India. The study, released Thursday, says as much as 85 percent of India's forests will change due to climate change by 2030-2100 and that rising sea levels will impact coastal railways, roads, major river basin ecology and rainfall. The three-year study is a result of the first phase assessment work done by the "Indo-UK Programme on Impact of Climate Change in India", with 450,000 pounds from Britain's Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). Among the eight Indian institutions partnering the study were the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad, The Energy and Resources Institute, Delhi, and the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa. The study shows that rising temperatures may reduce wheat, rice, sorghum, maize productions in vast areas of the country. In many regions, drought will be for longer periods, while in other regions, rainfall will increase, resulting in great change in forests and vegetation. "Incidents of malaria could increase and climate change could introduce malaria in new areas," the study says. An expert from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, Rupa Kumar Kolli said the institute's findings showed "monsoon rainfall will increase by 30 percent and temperatures will be four degree Celsius higher by the 21st century end." NIO, Goa's study clearly showed that "the southern peninsular coast will be the most vulnerable to sea level rise". N.H. Ravindranath of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, said, "There could be large-scale loss of biodiversity" in India, except possibly in the northeast forests and the Western Ghats. "There will be large increase in net primary productivity" but "unique forest systems could suffer irreversible damage", he said. Forests of teak and sal etc may dry out due to higher temperatures, but new species may not grow as "there are these days too many barriers likes roads and cities for natural migration of species", he warned.