The working group on risk management in
Climate Variability and Change
Download 0.68 Mb. View original pdf
|
| 3. Climate Variability and Change 3.1. Climate Risks: The impact of climate variability and change on food and agriculture indifferent agro- climatic systems and the changes in risk management approaches have shaped the mitigation and the response strategies of farmers and societies over millennia. Hydro- meteorological risks such as droughts, cyclones and floods not only endanger human lives and property, but also have a devastating impact on food production and farmers’ livelihood systems. Farm communities that do not have inbuilt buffering mechanisms, as in resource poor rain-fed regions, are disproportionately vulnerable to the severity of extreme climate events. Climate change further compounds the problem, as it threatens to alter the frequency, severity and complexity of climate events, as also the vulnerability of high-risk regions indifferent parts of the country. In recent years, there has been a dramatic technological progress in the understanding of climate systems, as well as in monitoring and forecasting weather events on the scale of seasons and beyond. The advent of more reliable forecasts goes hand-in-hand with emerging trends in risk management, where reactive strategies are gradually being replaced with more anticipatory, proactive and forward looking approaches. These approaches provide a unique opportunity to mitigate and reduce the vulnerability to adverse weather and climate phenomena, as also to take advantage of the knowledge of anticipated events to improve the quality of life of farmers. Widespread concerns on the likely impact of emerging climate risks, including those due to human induced actions on the climate system, provide opportunities to translate climate change adaptation concepts, into locally actionable practices. Potential opportunities also exist, to understand and make use of the patterns of climate variability, through skilful use of past observed climate data source in the country, though with a caveat that in climate science, the future is not always a mirror of the past. Download 0.68 Mb. Share with your friends:
|