According to a new report India should be ready to face more flooding, more droughts and climatic changes and variations. The report says India could be 2 degrees Celsius warmer and the change will bring disruptions in rain cycle subsequently disturbing the agriculture and causing other calamities.
Due to the climatic variations India will also experience a spread of malaria, as the disease migrates northward into Kashmir and the Himalayas, says the report by 220 Indian scientists and 120 research institutions.
The temperature rise, which could be even more extreme along the coasts, would cause drastic changes in India's rain cycles threatening water supplies and agriculture - the key source of livelihood for most of India's 1.2 billion people.
The report comes out just weeks before the November 29 start of the U.N climate summit in Cancun, Mexico, where nations will try again to reach a global agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions thought to contribute to global warming.
Last year's UN climate summit in Copenhagen ended with an international pledge to limit the rise of the Earth's average temperature to 2 degrees Celsius (3.8 F) above levels recorded before industries began pumping carbon dioxide into the air 200 years ago.
Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh also commented on the vulnerability of India as far as the climate is concerned.
India's many ecosystems and immediacy to the equator make it particularly sensitive to climate change, experts say. The fact that most of the country relies on freshwater sources, rather than desalinating sea water amplifies the threat of global warming on society.
The report also says sea levels will continue to rise, threatening India's more than 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) of coastline.
India had planned to spend around 2 per cent of the gross domestic product on projects dealing with the effects of climate change. But the requirement seems too much when compared to the help offered. It doesn’t seem enough considering the challenges in providing water, food and other basic necessities. Further, the resources are limited for the huge population.
