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Climate Change Impacts on Glacier-fed and Non-glacier-Fed Ecosystems of the Indian Himalayan Region: People’s Perception and Adaptive Strategies


Affiliations
1 Govind Ballabh Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora 263 643, India
2 Department of Environmental Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Kashmir, Srinagar 190 006, India
3 Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar 190 006, India
4 Govind Ballabh Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, North-East Regional Centre, Itanagar 791 113, India
5 CSIR: North-East Institute of Science and Technology, Branch Laboratory, Lamphelpat, Imphal 795 004, India
 

Mountains are considered as the early indicators of climate change. The study aims to understand how the Himalayan communities perceive climate change, and how this change has impacted the livelihood and sustenance of local people particularly in the remote and rural areas of the region. In view of this, 994 households of 25 villages were interviewed from five basins (five villages per basin) of the Indian Himalayan Region. Their perceptions mainly of climate change were validated/compared with the available climatic indices. People perceived rainfall pattern to be less predictable, greater change in land-use pattern, adverse impacts on forests and human health and overall reduction in their harvests. Seasonal increase in temperature was also reported. Capacity-building programmes for the inhabitants, including the most vulnerable communities in the wake of climate change would be significantly fruitful by way of mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Keywords

Adaptive Strategies, Climate Change, Glacierfed and Non-glacier-fed Ecosystems, People’s Perception.
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  • Climate Change Impacts on Glacier-fed and Non-glacier-Fed Ecosystems of the Indian Himalayan Region: People’s Perception and Adaptive Strategies

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Authors

Jagdish Chandra Kuniyal
Govind Ballabh Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora 263 643, India
Nidhi Kanwar
Govind Ballabh Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora 263 643, India
Ajay Singh Bhoj
Govind Ballabh Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora 263 643, India
Kuldeep Singh Rautela
Govind Ballabh Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora 263 643, India
Pramod Joshi
Govind Ballabh Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora 263 643, India
Kireet Kumar
Govind Ballabh Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora 263 643, India
Mohd Sharjeel Sofi
Department of Environmental Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Kashmir, Srinagar 190 006, India
Sami Ullah Bhat
Department of Environmental Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Kashmir, Srinagar 190 006, India
Irfan Rashid
Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar 190 006, India
Mahindra Singh Lodhi
Govind Ballabh Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, North-East Regional Centre, Itanagar 791 113, India
Ch. Anniebesant Devi
CSIR: North-East Institute of Science and Technology, Branch Laboratory, Lamphelpat, Imphal 795 004, India
Huidrom Birkumar Singh
CSIR: North-East Institute of Science and Technology, Branch Laboratory, Lamphelpat, Imphal 795 004, India

Abstract


Mountains are considered as the early indicators of climate change. The study aims to understand how the Himalayan communities perceive climate change, and how this change has impacted the livelihood and sustenance of local people particularly in the remote and rural areas of the region. In view of this, 994 households of 25 villages were interviewed from five basins (five villages per basin) of the Indian Himalayan Region. Their perceptions mainly of climate change were validated/compared with the available climatic indices. People perceived rainfall pattern to be less predictable, greater change in land-use pattern, adverse impacts on forests and human health and overall reduction in their harvests. Seasonal increase in temperature was also reported. Capacity-building programmes for the inhabitants, including the most vulnerable communities in the wake of climate change would be significantly fruitful by way of mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Keywords


Adaptive Strategies, Climate Change, Glacierfed and Non-glacier-fed Ecosystems, People’s Perception.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv120%2Fi5%2F888-899