Climate change is hitting closer to home than earlier expected. Agriculture production has seen a significant drop due to the effects of climate change such as increased temperature, floods and drought.

In a country struggling with rising population and the need to feed people ore every year, farm production is taking a big hit, according to Sanjoy Bandyopadhyay, Principal Scientist, Indian Agricultural Research Institute.

He was addressing a meet here on Friday on the ‘Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture’ organised by The Energy Research Institute (TERI).

He said that the production of wheat has dropped by six per cent, while rice and mustard production have narrowed by four per cent each.

Climate change has resulted in 70 per cent of India’s land becoming drought-prone, 12 per cent flood-prone, while eight per cent is affected by cyclones.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/climate-change-affecting-major-food-crops/article5247583.ece

Even as life continued to remain out of gear in cyclone-hit districts of Odisha, the flood situation remained grim on Tuesday in five districts — Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Keonjhar and Jajpur.

Heavy floods in Budhabalanga, Subarnarekha and Baitarani rivers affected lakhs of people in marooned areas.

Relief and restoration work was stepped up in areas hit by the cyclone and consequent floods.

While 21 people died due to the cyclone in Ganjam and other districts, the government said five persons had been washed away in floods.

Over 1.2 crore people were affected by the disaster. Initial estimates indicated that the cyclone and flood together have affected 16,487 villages in 148 blocks and 43 urban local bodies. So far, 3,33,070 dwelling houses have been reported damaged.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/26-people-dead-in-odisha-12-cr-hit/article5237844.ece

Eight persons were killed in Odisha as the very severe cyclonic storm Phailin hit the State’s coast near Gopalpur in Ganjam district at 8.30 p.m. on Saturday, government officials said on Sunday morning.

Lakhs of people were affected by the cyclone that caused major damage in Ganjam and other districts.

According to State Special Relief Commissioner P.K. Mohapatra, two persons each were killed in Ganjam and Khurda, and one each in Jagatsinghpur, Balasore, Jajpur and Puri.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/phailin-wanes-90-lakh-affected-crops-worth-rs-2400-cr-destroyed/article5230926.ece

Cyclone ‘Phailin’, said to be the strongest cyclonic storm to hit Odisha in 14 years, is set to make a landfall this evening near Gopalpur with authorities in the State and in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh having evacuated over three lakh people from vulnerable areas.

Hundreds of personnel of Army, IAF, Navy and NDRF were positioned in areas vulnerable to be hit by ‘Phailin’ that was positioned just 260 km off the coast of Gopalpur in Odisha around noon.

Wind speed

With a wind speed of 210-220 kmph, the tides could rise up to 3.5 metres and sea water could enter 300-600 metres in land, the IMD said.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/strongest-storm-in-14-years-to-hit-ap-odisha-coast-today/article5228362.ece

Asia’s largest study on the environment reveals increased pressure on jobs and basic resources, with many struggling to survive

BBC Media Action has launched the findings of Asia’s largest study of people’s experience of climate change. The study provides the first comprehensive picture of how people are being impacted by climate change and maps where communities are struggling to adapt.

The 35,500 people interviewed in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan and Vietnam were not climate scientists or policymakers. They were the farmers, fishermen, housewives, and slum dwellers who live at the frontline of changes in the environment across the region.

Across the region, almost all respondents have identified significant changes to their environment and basic resources – from increased temperatures and extreme weather events to decreases in water and food.

http://www.thethirdpole.net/people-may-not-know-what-climate-change-is-but-they-are-feeling-its-impact/

New Delhi: This year’s monsoon in Delhi is tipped to be of the longest duration in more than 50 years with another spell of light to moderate rainfall likely this weekend while Dussehra revelries are on in the city.

According to the MeT department, the length of the current southwest monsoon is likely to exceed 120 days, breaking the previous record of 111 days recorded 57 years back.

“The southwest monsoon’s withdrawal from north west India is likely to get delayed and break the previous record of latest withdrawal in 1956 and 1959, when it had occurred on October 13,” said Dr OP Singh, Deputy Director General of Meteorology, Regional Meteorological Centre, New Delhi.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/delhi-facing-longest-monsoon-in-50-years-says-met-office-429132

The fifth assessment report of the UN Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned that the last three decades have been the warmest since scientists started keeping records since 1850 with carbon dioxide concentrations having increased 40 per cent since pre-industrial times.

The effects of this are for everyone to see — a relentless heating up of the atmosphere and the oceans which will adversely impact the global water cycle. Glaciers will continue to melt and sea levels are expected to rise along coastal levels by 10 to 32 inches by the end of the century against the project levels of seven to 23 inches.
What will the impact of this change, prepared by 259 climate scientists from 39 countries, mean for South Asia and specifically for India. The report gives both a mid-term projection (2045-2065) and long-term projections (2081-2100) for us though more details will be made available early next year.

http://www.asianage.com/science-health/planet-warms-middle-class-becomes-more-aspirational-030

In the past 15 years, the world has not warmed in the same scale as it has been doing since 1951, read headlines across the world in the first week of September. There is a “hiatus” in global warming, media reports stated, quoting a draft of an upcoming Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.

A source in the know of the drafting process at the IPCC had leaked the draft of the Summary for Policymakers of the Working Group 1 to Assessment Report 5. This draft contained the assertion on the hiatus.

It read: “Global mean surface temperature trends exhibit substantial decadal variability despite the robust multi-decadal warming since 1901. The rate of warming over the past 15 years (1998-2012; 0.05 °C per decade) is smaller than the trend since 1951 (1951-2012; 0.12°C per decade).”

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/global-warming-is-here-to-stay/article5201483.ece

NEW DELHI: North India is likely to heat up more than the southern parts of the country while the entire Indian subcontinent may see longer rainy seasons in second half of the century, the UN’s climate body has predicted in its latest comprehensive document on climate change.

The conclusion, showing variation in temperature and rainfall in South Asia, is part of the lengthy technical details of the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which made its comprehensive report — Climate Change 2013, The Physical Science Basis — public in Stockholm on Monday.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/global-warming/Monsoon-to-get-longer-in-India-IPCC/articleshow/23375718.cms

The agricultural sector represents 35% of India’s Gross National Product (GNP) and therefore plays a crucial role in the country’s development. So while the magnitude of impact of climate change on agriculture in India varies greatly by region, it is still believed to impact agricultural productivity and shifting crop patterns gradually each year.

Climate change can affect crop yields (both positively and negatively), as well as the types of crops that can be grown in certain areas, by impacting agricultural inputs such as water for irrigation, amounts of solar radiation that affect plant growth, as well as the prevalence of pests. And these changes in agriculture could then affect food security, trade policy, livelihood activities and water conservation issues, impacting large portions of the population in India.
 

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/weather/climate-change-affecting-indian-agriculture_959850.html