Climate change in Himalaya region to have catastrophic impact
By Ravi Matah
NEW YORK – Millions of people living in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region will be seriously effected by climate change which is posing a serious threat of drought and catastrophic flooding, warns a new U.N. report.
Leading Scientists analysed the situation and issued a warning to world leaders that climate change will have serious consequences for human civilization and the worlds ecosystems.
The people living in mountainous regions and their neighbours in river basins downstream in the region are extremely vulnerable to climate change, it said.
It would effect food security, housing, infrastructure, business and even the survival of the people in those areas.
The publication was launched in Copenhagen, Denmark, where nations are hammering out an ambitious new deal.
Its findings are based on research carried out by five teams in China, India, Pakistan and Nepal to assess the changing realities brought on by climate change.
“The acute experiences of people in this region are living proof of the pressures some societies are already enduring as a result of the onset of climate change – adaptation here is not just a necessity but a question of local communities’ very survival,” said the United Nations Environment programme, Executive Director Achim Steiner.
Temperature increases in the Himalayas were up 0.6 degree Celsius per decade, as compared with the worldwide average of 0.74 degrees Celcius over the past century. The new report found that extreme climate events are destroying crops; depleting water resources; depleting livestock and croplands; and dealing a blow to agricultural productivity.
It called on governments to boost local adaptation strategies and long-term resilience, not just disaster management.
Additionally, the publication appealed for a new Blue Revolution in Asia to enhance the efficiency of irrigation and water use to make more water available for crop production.
Nepal, which is normally known for its water abundance, has experienced extreme droughts, some lasting for years, while in some parts of India, embankments to contain the Koshi River have led to water logging and even calamitous flooding.
The report is a result of a two-year pilot assessment that was a joint effort by UNEP, the Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research (CICERO) and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).
Another study released by the UN Food and agriculture organization found that fisheries – already facing challenges triggered by overfishing and habitat loss – are not adequately prepared to deal with the problems arising from climate change.
Particularly vulnerable are small island developing states, with at least 50 per cent of their animal protein intake being fish.
But also at risk are inland fisheries, the vast majority of which are located in Africa and Asia and threaten the food supply and livelihoods of some of the world’s poorest people, the report noted.
Since most aquatic animals are cold-blooded making them sensitive to temperature fluctuations, global warming, it found, will have a significant impact on the reproductive cycles of fish.
In the North Atlantic, cod will be especially hard-hit given that temperature changes in plankton populations are already impacting the
survival rates of young cod.
Copyright 2009, Vancouverite News Service. Use this article on your blog or website for just $5. News organizations pay $25. To reproduce or distribute, click: http://vancouverite.icopyright.com
Related articles:
Posted by Ravi Matah
on Dec 13 2009. Filed under Humanity.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
