Climate Change Impacts and Implications: An Indian Perspective

Climate change is one of the most complex global environmental problems, impacting the physical and biological systems of aquatic, terrestrial and marine environments. India is among one of the most vulnerable countries that has already been experiencing changes in climate and the impacts of climate change. Various sectors such as agriculture, forestry, health, socio-economy, etc. have found to be severely affected by the implications of climate change in the country. Significant impacts over the forest ecosystems, global biodiversity and ecosystem integrity have also been observed in recent days. Apart from reduction in forest productivity, a shift in the forest type boundaries along altitudinal and rainfall gradients have been found. Loss of sea ice, rapid warming, and higher organic inputs affect marine and lake productivity, while combined impacts of wildfire and insect outbreaks decrease forest productivity. All these emerging uncertainties due to climate change have found to aggravate the problems of future food security within the country. Despite putting numerous efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change, India has failed in responding sufficiently in dealing the issue of climate change. Thus, it is imperative to come up with more effective adaptation and mitigation strategies in order to combat the effects of climate change.