This summer’s flash floods spread across the Himalayas –in India, Pakistan and Nepal – have underscored the urgent need to install early warning systems

 Scientists have been warning that the frequency of floods, droughts and storms will go up due to climate change. The large number of flash floods across the Hindu Kush Himalayas this summer appears to be proving their point. So how should policymakers respond right now?

Experts and activists gathered at a recent workshop held in New Delhi to discuss the worst of this year’s flash floods – in Uttarakhand – stressed the need to urgently install early warning systems so that people could get out of the way. The workshop was organised by the Times of India media group.

The experts pointed out that the entire Himalayan belt in India is prone to such disasters, especially since the weather has started behaving quite erratically. “The disaster in Uttarakhand was caused by floods. Did we have early warning systems? No we didn’t have,” said Vijay Kumar, operations manager of Danish Hydraulics Institute. He added that the losses could have been minimised if there was a warning system in place.

http://www.thethirdpole.net/himalayas-needs-many-disaster-warning-systems/

As the threat of climate change slowly becomes a reality, poor women will be the largest social group to feel the heat.

Though the impact, in the form of severe droughts, heavy rains and flooding, is not limited to any particular group, what causes more concern is the additional burden it brings upon poor women in rural areas. The issue for them could start with longer trudges in search of water, something that eventually could impact their health.

The impact on poor, rural women was highlighted by Nagraj Adve of India Climate Justice Network, a collective of social movements, trade unions and like-minded individuals, at a panel discussion on climate change here on Saturday.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/climate-change-can-impact-poor-womens-health/article5104630.ece?ref=sliderNews

(Reuters) – Monsoon rains should continue to be weaker than average again next week, suggesting an early end to the season, weather officials said on Thursday, but with summer crops well established, there should be little impact on harvests.

The monsoon, crucial for the 55 percent of Indian farmland that does not have irrigation, brought the heaviest rains in nearly two decades during its first half this year, fanning hopes for bumper harvests.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/09/05/india-monsoon-rains-idINDEE98405X20130905

Around the world three billion people have no access to modern cooking fuels. They depend mostly on direct burning of solid biomass for cooking and heating. The smoke from these rudimentary stoves causes some four million deaths annually, destroys millions of tonnes of crops and leads to global warming and large-scale regional climate change.

In India, 400 million people, of which 90 per cent are women, are exposed to indoor air pollution from inefficient cookstoves. This results in respiratory, pulmonary and vision problems.

In addition, inefficient cookstoves mean that women spend five to eight hours per day on cooking activities, 20 per cent of that time collecting fuel. This is time that could be spent on educational or other activities. Searching for fuel also puts women and children at risk of sexual violence.

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/clean-energy-can-light-up-lives/article5086345.ece?homepage=true

G.Kondepadu and Chodavaram villages outside the Kolleru Wildlife Sanctury (KWS) where the Asian Open-billed Stork nest in large numbers will be given satellite sanctuary status for the protection of the birds. Former Assistant Conservator of Forest who is currently a consultant to the Forest Department P.Gracious told The Hindu that the Open-billed Storks come to feed in the KWS and the Atapaka Pelican Paradise only when there was water.

Bird lovers have to wait for at least a fortnight more to spot the first flock of Openbill Storks at Atapaka this season. The off-white and black avian guests did not arrive at the usual time of the year because of the unpredictable climatic conditions and scorching heat with temperatures soaring. The number of Asian Openbill Stork (Anastomus Oscitans) is the second highest among the birds at the sanctuary, a Ramsar site in Andhra Pradesh, after the Painted Storks.  Expecting that the winged visitors will arrive at the lake soon after a few spells of rain, the Forest Department authorities made all the arrangements such as maintenance of water level in the lake and arranging of nets in strategic locations.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/arrival-of-asian-openbill-storks-delayed-at-atapaka/article5082184.ece

The Central Water Commission (CWC) under the Water Resources Ministry, which monitors water quality at 396 stations located in all the major river basins, published a report Water Quality Hot Spots in Rivers of India in 2011, Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat said while replying to a question in the Lok Sabha.

The Minister said the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) under the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) also monitors the water quality of the rivers at 1,275 stations located on 445 rivers.

“It has identified 150 polluted stretches on 121 rivers in the country based on bio-chemical-oxygen demand (BOD) levels,” said Rawat.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/water-at-75-locations-in-major-rivers-not-fit-for-drinking-govt/article5072187.ece

The government today said it is examining a World Bank report which estimated the total cost of environmental degradation in the country at about Rs 3.75 trillion annually.

“A World Bank report titled ‘India Diagnostic Assessment of Select Environmental Challenges’ has estimated the total cost of environmental degradation in India at about Rs 3.75 trillion (USD 80 billion) annually,” Environment and Forests minister Jayanthi Natarajan said in a written reply to a query in the Rajya Sabha.

“The report is being examined by the government,” she said.

http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/govt-examining-world-bank-report-on-environmental-degradation-113082900984_1.html

Glaciers in Himalayan region are receding at varying rates in different regions, Rajya Sabha was informed today.

In her reply to a written question, Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan said findings in a study conducted by the Geological Survey of India has revealed that recession of glaciers could be the result from natural cyclic process and other factors, including, inter-alia and global warming.

She also said that the government has not conducted studies so far to assess the adverse impact on Indian sub-continent due to the melting of glaciers in Himalayas and ice in Antarctica.

http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/himalayan-glaciers-receding-natarajan-113082900605_1.html

NAGPUR: Despite a sharp rise in area and production of citrus in northeastern hill (NEH) region in seven years (2005-12), there has been huge decline in citrus orchards in this region due to climate change and weather vagaries. The NEH region includes Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

The area under various citrus crops has increased from 71.8 thousand hectares (TH) in 2005-06 to 139.86 TH and the average production in region in the same period increased from 289.1 thousand tons (TT) to 737.08 TT. Yet there has been little increase in productivity during these years as the productivity increased from 4 tons per hectare (t/h) to 5.27t/h.

“Northeast is the primary source of citrus biodiversity in the country. Yet due to climate change the productivity levels are the country’s lowest here. Climate change and natures vagaries have led to a severe decline in citrus orchards in region. There is a strong need to conserve all the 23 species of region,” said SV Ngachan, scientist, NEH Indian Council of Agricultural Research at Umiam in Meghalaya.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/environment/flora-fauna/decline-in-citrus-orchards-in-northeastern-hill-region-of-country/articleshow/22121500.cms

VARANASI: Different parts of the country are witnessing flood fury with the loss of lives and property. In Uttar Pradesh, the swollen Ganga had flooded many districts of eastern region, including Varanasi, Allahabad, Mirzapur, Ghazipur and Ballia.

The report of the ministry of water resources admits that the approach to flood management presently exercised in India need to get a re-look and have an integrated strategy. Floods have been recurrent phenomenon in many parts of India, causing loss of lives and property and bringing untold misery to the people, especially those in the rural areas.

According to the Preliminary Consolidated Report on Effect of Climate Change on Water Resources, UP has 73.4 lakh hectares flood-prone area, the highest in the country, of which only 17.03 lakh hectare area is protected (as reported up to March 2006). The report says that as the flood events and intensity are likely to increase due to climate change phenomenon, the flood prone-area is further likely to increase. The likely increased sediment flow may affect the morphology of rivers.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/varanasi/Floods-a-recurrent-phenomenon-in-state/articleshow/22088200.cms