Lok Sabha Question No. 1886 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-14
Subject: Effects of Climate Change
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Poonam (Mahajan) Vajendla Rao, Indra Hang Subba, Debasree Chaudhuri

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1886

TO BE ANSWERED ON 14.03.2022

## Effects of Climate Change

## 1886.   SHRIMATI POONAM MAHAJAN: SHRI INDRA HANG SUBBA: MS. DEBASREE CHAUDHURI:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has taken note of the Climate Change across the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the  details  of  geographical  areas  that  have  witnessed  the  most  significant  Climatic Change,  with  special  reference  to  the  Himalayas,  indicating  the  impact  of  such  a change on the environment in the country;
- (c) whether the Government has separate fund allocation to carry out research studies on climate change in the Himalayas, if so, the details thereof, if not, the reasons therefor;
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  any  plans  to  setup  institutions  for  environment  and climate change in the Northeast region, if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether the Government has conducted any study to examine the trend of declining rainfall  in  certain  areas  of  the  country  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  if  not,  the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a) The Government is seized of the matter and has been assessing climate change overthe years  through  various  Ministries  and  Agencies.India  Meteorological  Department  (IMD) brings  out  the  publication  'Annual  Climate  Summary'  at  the  end  of  every  year  that featureshighlights  of  climate  patterns  including  temperature  and  rainfall  over  the  country, long  termchanges  since  the  year  1901  in  all  India  temperature  and  rainfall  in  annual  and seasonal scales.As per theWorld Meteorological Organisation, the global mean temperature for 2021 was about 1.11(± 0.13)°C above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) levels.

According to the Ministry of Earth Sciences, the surface air temperature over India has  risen  byabout  0.7 o C  during  1901-2018.  The  sea  surface  temperatures  in  the  tropical Indian Ocean have alsoincreased by about 1 o C during 1951-2015.On an average, at present, the sea level along the Indian coast is estimated to be rising at about 1.7 mm/year.

(b)and  (c)  While  many  studies  monitor  current  changes  in  the  environment,  the  science ofattribution  of  these  changes  particularly  to  global  warming  is  far  more  complex  and iscurrently  an  evolving  subject.  Such  changes  as  are  observed  may  arise  from  a  number ofcauses,  including  the  inherent  variability  in  climatic  systems  that  are  common  in  the biosphereand  geosphere.  Most  studies  so  far  have  relied  on  mathematical  modelling  of climate changeimpacts.

According to the information provided by the Gobind Ballabh Pant National Institute ofHimalayan  Environment,  some  of  the  impacts  of climate change  observed  in the IndianHimalayan Region are as follows: (i) upward movement of treeline of woody species at aslow  rate  having  likely  impact  on  alpine  pastures  over  the  time  span  of  several  decades, (ii)upward  movement  of  herbaceous  plants  over  the  time  scale  of  a  century  which  has alreadybeen  observed  and  documented  in  states  such  as  Sikkim,  (iii)  gradual  shifting  of productionzone of horticultural crops like apple orchards in Himachal Pradesh, over decades, and (iv)melting or retreat of certain glaciers, though there are also stable or even advancing glaciers inthe Himalaya, thereby emphasizing the complex geographical and cyclical nature of theglacial dynamics.

The monitoring of glaciers is pursued by the Indian Space Research Organization(ISRO), Geological Survey of India (GSI), Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Defence Geo informatics Research Establishment (DGRE), and also through various research projectssponsored by the Department of Science and Technology (DST). The latter also has anautonomous institution on Himalayan Geology, namely, the Wadia Institute of HimalayanGeology, Dehradun. The Central Water Commission (CWC) monitors 477 glacial lakes andwater bodies in the Himalayan Region of the Indian river basin system, having an area ofmore than 50 hectares on a monthly basis in the monsoon season since 2011. Further, theNational  Disaster  Management  Authority  has  issued  guidelines  titled  'Management  of GlacialLake  Outburst  Floods  (GLOFs)'  in  October  2020,  which  inter-alia  includes  a discussion onEarly Warning Systems.

(d) Along with the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change and its various bodies  and  institutions,  all  other  departments  and  institutions  of  the  government  that  are associated with climate change relevant matters, pay due attention to climatic trends, impacts and other relevant phenomena in the North-East region. It may also be noted that there is a separate  Ministry  of  Development  of  North  East  Region  that  is  occupied  with,  inter  alia, issues related to climate change and environment in the North-Eastespecially in the context of development.

(e) India Meteorological Department (IMD) has carried out an analysis of observedmonsoon rainfall variability and changes of 29 States and Union Territories at State and  Districtlevels  based  on  the  IMD's  observational  data  of  30  years  (1989-  2018)  during theSouthwest  monsoon  season  from  June  toSeptember.  The  reports  onobserved  rainfall variability  and  its  trend  for  each  State  and  Union  Territory  are  available  onthe  IMD website.Although  there  is  inter-annual  variability,  the  total  precipitation  during  theIndian summer monsoon has remained largely stable over  the period  1901-2019  and  hasshown  a weak decreasing trend during the last three decades. Further, the followingarefindings of the IMD on the changes of rainfall and its intensities during the last three decades:

- Five  states  viz.,  Uttar  Pradesh,  Bihar,  West  Bengal,  Meghalaya,  and  Nagaland haveshown  significant  decreasing  trends  in  southwest  monsoon  rainfall  during  the recent30 years period (1989-2018).
- The  annual  rainfall  over  these  five  states  along  with  the  states  of  Arunachal Pradeshand Himachal Pradesh also show significant decreasing trends.
- Other  states  do  not  show  any  significant  changes  in  southwest  monsoon  rainfall duringthe same period.
- Considering  district-wise  rainfall,  there  are  many  districts  in  the  country,  which showsignificant changes in southwest monsoon and annual rainfall during the recent 30years period (1989-2018).
- With  regard  to  the  frequency  of  heavy  rainfall  days,  a  significant  increasing  trend isobserved  over  Saurashtra  &Kachchh,  Southeastern  parts  of  Rajasthan,  Northern partsof  Tamil  Nadu,  Northern  parts  of  Andhra  Pradesh  and  adjoining  areas  of SouthwestOdisha,  many  parts  of  Chhattisgarh,  Southwest  Madhya  Pradesh,  West Bengal,Manipur & Mizoram, Konkan & Goa, and Uttarakhand.

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