KEY TRENDS
• Extreme temperature shocks reduce farmer incomes by 4.3 percent and 4.1 percent during kharif and rabi respectively, whereas extreme rainfall shocks reduce incomes by 13.7 percent and 5.5 percent *&
• It is estimated that to cover 50 percent (5 million ha) of the total acreage under rice-wheat cropping system (RWCS) in India, about 60000 Turbo Happy Seeders and 30000 super SMS fitted combines will be required; at present, there are only about 3000 Turbo Happy Seeders and 1000 super SMS fitted combines are available *$
• India's share of CO2 in the total emissions in the world is very insignificant in per capita terms. The per capita emission of an Indian citizen is 1.2 tons of CO2 whereas his counterpart in USA contributes 20.6 tons, as per UNDP Human Development Report 2007/2008. The per capita emissions of UK and Japan are 8 times and of USA 17 times higher than that of India. India's contribution to the world total is only 4.6 percent when compared to USA's contribution of 20.9 percent followed by 17.3 percent of China $$
• Municipal areas in the country generate 1.34 lakh metric tonnes per day of municipal solid waste (MSW), of which only 91,152 tonnes per day (TPD) waste is collected and 25,884 TPD treated $
• Water pollution is a serious problem in India as almost 75-80 percent of its surface water resources and a growing percentage of its groundwater reserves are contaminated by biological, toxic, organic and inorganic pollutants $
• With global mean warming approaching 4°C, an increase in intra-seasonal variability in the Indian summer monsoon precipitation of approximately 10 percent is projected. Large uncertainty remains about the fundamental behavior of the Indian summer monsoon under global warming. Over southern India, increasing wetness is projected with broad agreement between climate models π
• A 1-metre rise in sea level would displace about 7 million people in India*
• Fossil fuel burning has contributed to most of the greenhouse gas emissions in the past 20 years*
• Global GHG emissions due to human activities have grown since pre-industrial times, with an increase of 70 percent between 1970 and 2004**
• The largest growth in GHG emissions between 1970 and 2004 has come from energy supply, transport and industry, while residential and commercial buildings, forestry (including deforestation) and agriculture sectors have been growing at a lower rate**
• India would face yield losses in rice and wheat along with fall in the rate of growth of gross domestic product owing to climate change***
• Increased occurrence of extreme events (such as cyclones) due to climate change will mostly affect the poor***
*& Economic Survey 2017-18, Volume-1 (released in January, 2018)[/inside], please click here to read more
*$ Innovative Viable Solution to Rice Residue Burning in Rice-Wheat Cropping System through Concurrent Use of Super Straw Management System-fitted Combines and Turbo Happy Seeder (October, 2017), National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), please click here to access
$$ Statistics Related to Climate Change-India 2015, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, please click here to access
$ SAARC-India Country Report 2015: Statistical Appraisal, produced by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), Government of India (please click here to access)
π 4-degree Turn down the Heat: Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts, and the Case for Resilience (2013), The World Bank
* Ministry of Environment, Government of India
** Climate Change (2007): Synthesis Report brought out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
*** Parikh, Kirit and Parikh, Jyoti (2002): Climate Change-India’s Perceptions, Positions, Policies and Possibilities, OECD
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