Environmental characteristics of tropical coral reef-seagrass dominated lagoons (Lakshadweep,India) and implications to resilience to climate change

Environmental characteristics of the coral reef-seagrass ecosystem of selected Lakshadweep Islands (India) were assessed with a view to understanding the future climate change scenario in the region. Images obtained from the Indian remote sensing satellite (IRS P6) were used to identify the different zones such as the corals, the seagrass and the sandy region. The pH (7.6–8.6) of sediment was relatively high in the coral reef compared to the seagrass area, possibly indicating a climate shift-induced coral bleaching. The water quality and sediment texture generally showed marked intra- and inter-island variations illustrating that these coral reef ecosystems are highly vulnerable to climate change brought about by increased human interventions. Future research should therefore explore the habitat and resource connections, to predict their restoring capabilities for a sustainable exploitation. With an alarming increase in the population and associated developmental activities, the island ecosystems are expected to respond severely to the climate change, which may eventually lead to mass mortality of corals due to bleaching.     

Eroding islands of Gulf of Mannar,Southeast India: a consequence of long-term impact of coral mining and climate change

Natural Hazards - Lightning is one of the most widespread and deadly hazards in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has among the highest death rates of any country. The main objective of this study is to...     

Vulnerability,resilience and development discourses in context of climate change

The paper discusses how the current climate change debate influences the way in which development is conceptualised, negotiated and implemented. The objective of the article is to explore some of the underlying controversies that characterise development discourses in the context of climate change. Adaptation to climate change goes along with a significant shift in discourses used to deal with what is normally called development. This is reflected in shifting research interests and perspectives, from vulnerability studies to resilience thinking. However, the paper argues, this shift is problematic for the normative contents of development and especially for a pro-poor and grass roots perspective.     

Risk,perception and adaptation to climate change: evidence from arid region,India

The paper contributes to the growing literature highlighting the significance of assessing risk and vulnerability, micro-level perceptions and adaptation decision-making in building resilience of farm communities to climate change in dryland region of India. To select a region for grassroots enquiry, spatial differential in risk to climate change was assessed in Rajasthan, using IPCC AR5 framework. Among the highly vulnerable and risky districts, Bikaner district was selected for elicitation of micro-level imperatives. Rising atmospheric temperature, inter-seasonal displacements of rainfall and recurrence of extreme events were perceived by the farmers resulting in resource degradation, production risks and erosion of households’ socio-economic dynamics. As risk preventive measures, suitable adjustment in agricultural practices, natural resource management, shift to off-farm activities and other relief measures were adopted by the farmers. Farmer’s choice of adaptation was influenced by several climatic, socio-economic and infrastructural & institutional factors in varying degree. Moreover, several financial, economic, infrastructural and informational bottlenecks to adaptations were reported during household survey and FGDs. The results suggest that capturing grassroots evidence is crucial for directing locally tailored adaptation strategies, along with the improving deficiencies in the developmental pathways for climate-resilient agriculture.

     

Imagining resilience: situating perceptions and emotions about climate change on Kamchatka, Russia

Global environmental change shapes places and people through ongoing transformation of ecological, socioeconomic, political, and cultural phenomena. One region construed as highly vulnerable to global environmental change, particularly anthropogenic climate change, is the North. Recent research about human communities in Western arctic and subarctic places revolve around vulnerability to anthropogenic climate change, focusing on loss of the ability to pursue traditional livelihoods, threats to ecosystems sustaining human communities and the need to adapt to new environmental regimes. Fewer studies address Russia and the perceptions and emotions related to climate change. To understand how people of the Russian North engage with climate change, I conducted ethnographic research in two rural and remote communities in subarctic alpine Kamchatka, Russia in 2009–2010. Local narratives about climate change largely reflect climate skepticism, and anthropogenic climate change is rejected as explaining environmental changes because: (1) climate is considered as naturally and cyclically changing, (2) humans are not considered a large enough force to alter natural climate cycles, (3) environmental problems are solvable with technology and (4) there is a lack of knowledge about climate change science. Thus, perceptions and emotions about transformation focus on other realms—socioeconomic, political, cultural—that are perceived as more critical to everyday life in the present and near future. Here, I describe these narratives and place the regional understanding of climate change in greater context to explain resistance to imagining environmental transformations due to climate change.     

An analysis of problems related to dredging in a coral atoll: Kavaratti,Lakshadweep, Indian Ocean

Detailed survey on various aspects has indicated the presence of calcareous sands in the lagoons of Lakshadweep (Arabian Sea) suitable for a number of industries. No data are available about the effect of mining the deposits on these atolls. This paper attempts to analyze the data collected in studying the channel that has been dredged in connection with development of the harbor at Kavaratti lagoon Maximum depth in the lagoon is 3 m Outside the depth increases rapidly within a short distance of about 100 m Sediment in the lagoon is derived from the destruction of the reefs and consists of corals, halimeda, molluscan shells, foraminifers, and red algae Presently sands are being dredged from the lagoon and dumped in the sea and these sands are lost as there is a steep slope outside A study of shoreline records for the beaches adjacent to the dredging site shows that the shoreline is an area of accretion. It is quite possible that removal of 1 or 2 meters of sands from the lagoon floor will not affect the equilibrium if the reef is not disturbed Dredging of coral sands for different purposes is known from Fiji, Johnson Island, offshore Apia and no adverse effect has been noticed Removal of limited quantity of sands is recommended, since in a closed system of such atolls like Kavaratti there is always a surplus of sediment transported to the deep sea. The surplus sediment opens the way to sediment dredging. However, reef areas should not be disturbed since the reef is the most important sediment-generating site Studies on growth rate, currents, tides, and bathymetry should be continued to detect the adverse effect simultaneously with dredging The views expressed in this paper are entirely those of the author and no organization is responsible for them.     

Vulnerability profiles of forested landscape to climate change in Bengal Duars region,India

This paper assesses village level vulnerability profiles of the forested landscape in Bengal Duars region. Vulnerability of forested landscape is addressed by indicator-based approach with finer details using GIS-based interactive model under present climate. The three integrant of vulnerability are inscribed: exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity, by taking into consideration of twenty-one environmental and socio-economic indicators are identified. Being located in the foothills of Eastern Himalaya sudden variation of slope in Bengal Duars region results in frequent flooding and huge damage to forested landscape. Change of climate, degradation of forest resources and socio-economic backwardness further enhances the degree of vulnerability. It has been detected that 61% of area in Bengal Duars is configured to be vulnerable to climate change. The most vulnerable areas are the forested cover in Jalpaiguri, Baikunthapur, Wildlife-II, Wildlife-III, and Buxa Tiger Reserve East and their surrounding landscape with more climatic variation, disrupted by anthropogenic and non-climatic activities and less access to infrastructural and socioeconomic facilities.     

Micro-level perception to climate change and adaptation issues: A prelude to mainstreaming climate adaptation into developmental landscape in India

Climate change adds another dimension of challenges to the growth and sustainability of Indian agriculture. The growing exposure to livelihood shocks from climate variability/change and limited resource base of the rural community to adapt has reinforced the need to mainstream climate adaptation planning into developmental landscape. However, a better understanding of micro-level perceptions is imperative for effective and informed planning at the macro-level. In this paper, the grass-root level perspectives on climate change impacts and adaptation decisions were elicited at farm level in the Moga district of Punjab and Mahbubnagar district of Telangana, India. The farmers opined that the climatic variability impacts more than the long-term climate change. They observed change in the quantum, onset and distribution of rainfall, rise in minimum as well as maximum temperature levels, decline in crop yield and ground water depletion. The key socio-economic effects of climate change included decline in farm income, farm unemployment, rural migration and increased indebtedness among farmers. In order to cope with climate variability and change thereon, farmers resorted to adaptation strategies such as use of crop varieties of suitable duration, water conservation techniques, crop insurance and participation in non-farm activities and employment guarantee schemes. Farmers’ adaptation to changing climate was constrained by several technological, socio-economic and institutional barriers. These include limited knowledge on the costs–benefits of adaptation, lack of access to and knowledge of adaptation technologies, lack of financial resources and limited information on weather. Besides, lack of access to input markets, inadequate farm labour and smaller farm size were the other constraints. Further, on the basis of the grass-root elicitation a ‘Need-Based Adaptation’ planning incorporating farmers’ perceptions on climate change impacts, constraints in the adoption of adaptation strategies and plausible adaptation options were linked with the most suitable ongoing programmatic interventions of the Government of India. The study concluded that micro-level needs and constraints for various adaptation strategies and interventions should be an integral part of the programme development, implementation and evaluation in the entire developmental paradigm.     

Environmental set-up and tidal propagation in a tropical estuary with dual connection to the sea (SW Coast of India)

The Kochi Backwater (KB) is the second largest wetland system in India. It is connected to the sea at Fort Kochi and Munambam (Pallipuram) (30 km north of Kochi). As the tide is forced through two openings, its propagation in the backwater system is very complicated, particularly in the northern arm of the estuary. Using synchronous water level (WL) and current measurements in the KB from a network of stations during 2007–2008, it was convenient to demarcate the northern KB into two distinct regions according to the tidal forcing from the north (Pallipuram) and south (Vallarpadam). This demarcation is useful for computing the propagation speeds of the dominant tidal constituents in the northern branch of the KB with dual opening for opposing tides. WL variations indicated that M₂ tide (Principal lunar semidiurnal constituent) dominated in the sea level variance, followed by the K₁ constituent (Luni-solar declinational diurnal constituent). The M₂ tidal influence was the strongest near the mouth and decayed in the upstream direction. The propagation speed of the M₂ tide in the southern estuary was ~3.14 m/s. The ratio of the total annual runoff to the estuarine volume is ~42 that indicates the estuary will be flushed 42 times in a year. KB can be classified as a monsoonal estuary where the river discharge exhibits large seasonal variation.     

Analysis of dry and wet climate characteristics at Uttarakhand (India) using effective drought index

Natural Hazards - Drought is a complex natural disaster that adversely affects human life and the ecosystem. A variety of drought indexes are available for monitoring meteorological drought events....     

Residence times of shallow groundwater in West Africa: implications for hydrogeology and resilience to future changes in climate

Although shallow groundwater (<50 mbgl) sustains the vast majority of improved drinking-water supplies in rural Africa, there is little information on how resilient this resource may be to future changes in climate. This study presents results of a groundwater survey using stable isotopes, CFCs, SF₆, and ³H across different climatic zones (annual rainfall 400–2,000 mm/year) in West Africa. The purpose was to quantify the residence times of shallow groundwaters in sedimentary and basement aquifers, and investigate the relationship between groundwater resources and climate. Stable-isotope results indicate that most shallow groundwaters are recharged rapidly following rainfall, showing little evidence of evaporation prior to recharge. Chloride mass-balance results indicate that within the arid areas (<400 mm annual rainfall) there is recharge of up to 20 mm/year. Age tracers show that most groundwaters have mean residence times (MRTs) of 32–65 years, with comparable MRTs in the different climate zones. Similar MRTs measured in both the sedimentary and basement aquifers suggest similar hydraulic diffusivity and significant groundwater storage within the shallow basement. This suggests there is considerable resilience to short-term inter-annual variation in rainfall and recharge, and rural groundwater resources are likely to sustain diffuse, low volume abstraction.     

A social justice framing of climate change discourse and policy: Adaptation,resilience and vulnerability in a Jamaican agricultural landscape

It is now widely recognized that climate change is likely to have detrimental impacts across the Caribbean region, with the burden likely to fall disproportionately on the most vulnerable segments of society. It is therefore an appropriate time to ask whether the frameworks that lie behind climate change discourse and policy are consistent with the demands of social and environmental justice. In this paper, we use climate justice as a lens for evaluating three prominent frameworks for addressing climate change, those of adaptation, resilience, and vulnerability. Each of these discursive frameworks, we argue, can contribute to our understanding of climate change, but they do not all incorporate justice concerns to the same degree. In order to illustrate this, we examine the justice implications of using each of the three frameworks to assess a case study of agricultural transformation in Southwestern Jamaica. Farmers in this region have adapted to changing climate conditions in a variety of ways, including the use of new agricultural technology. The ability of many farmers to take advantage of such innovations, however, is constrained by the underlying landscape of vulnerability within the region. After interpreting this example from the perspectives of adaptation, resilience and vulnerability, we conclude that all three paradigms are capable of calling attention to climate justice issues, but only in the vulnerability perspective are such issues intrinsic. We believe, therefore, that a greater attention to vulnerability within Caribbean climate policy holds the potential to advance the goals of climate justice within the region.     

Environmental magnetic and geochemical characteristics of Chennai coastal sediments,Bay of Bengal,India

In this study, environmental magnetic, heavy metal and statistical analyses were conducted on 21 surface sediments collected from Chennai coast, India, to examine the feasibility of heavy metal pollution using magnetic susceptibility. The Chennai coastal sediment samples are dominated by ferrimagnetic minerals corresponding to magnetite-like minerals. The percentage of frequency dependent magnetic susceptibility reflects the presence of super-paramagnetic/single domain magnetic minerals in Chennai harbour, Cooum and Adayar rivers sediments. High pollution load index in sample E1, E2, CH7, C11, C12 and A16 is mainly due to anthropogenic activities such as, harbour activities, Cooum and Adayar rivers input and industrial effluent. Factor analysis shows that the magnetic concentration dependent parameters (χ, χ _ARM and SIRM) covary with the heavy metal concentrations, suggesting that the input of magnetic minerals and heavy metals in Chennai coastal sediments are derived from the same anthropogenic sources. Strong correlation obtained between pollution load index (PLI) and concentration dependent parameters (χ, χ _ARM and SIRM) for the polluted samples with magnetic susceptibility excess of 50×10^− 8 m³kg^− 1. Significant correlations between heavy metals and magnetic susceptibility point out the potential of magnetic screening/monitoring for simple and rapid proxy indicator of heavy metal pollution in marine sediments.