Search

The paper contributes to the growing literature highlighting the significance of assessing risk and vulnerability, micro-level perceptions and adaptation decision-making in building resilience of farm communities to climate change in dryland region of India. To select a region for grassroots enquiry, spatial differential in risk to climate change was assessed in Rajasthan, using IPCC AR5 framework. Among the highly vulnerable and risky districts, Bikaner district was selected for elicitation of micro-level imperatives. Rising atmospheric temperature, inter-seasonal displacements of rainfall and recurrence of extreme events were perceived by the farmers resulting in resource degradation, production risks and erosion of households' socio-economic dynamics. As risk preventive measures, suitable adjustment in agricultural practices, natural resource management, shift to off-farm activities and other relief measures were adopted by the farmers. Farmer's choice of adaptation was influenced by several climatic, socio-economic and infrastructural & institutional factors in varying degree. Moreover, several financial, economic, infrastructural and informational bottlenecks to adaptations were reported during household survey and FGDs. The results suggest that capturing grassroots evidence is crucial for directing locally tailored adaptation strategies, along with the improving deficiencies in the developmental pathways for climate-resilient agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water scarcity is one of the most critical issues facing agriculture today. To understand how people manage the risk of water scarcity and growing pressures of increased climate variability, exploring perceptions of risk and how these perceptions feed into response behaviour and willingness to adapt is critical. This paper revisits existing frameworks that conceptualise perceptions of environmental risk and decision-making, and uses empirical evidence from an in-depth study conducted in Rajasthan, India, to emphasise how individual and collective memories, and experience of past extreme events shape current definitions and future expectations of climatic risks. In doing so, we demonstrate the value of recognising the role of local perceptions of water scarcity (and how they vary between and within households) in constructing social vulnerability. This expanded understanding of risk perception is critical for incentivising individual adaptation and strengthening local adaptation pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clean energy transition via utilizing biomass resources has been projected as an important climate change mitigation strategy. A vital characteristic of biomass is its localized nature; therefore, bioenergy utilization should follow decentralized planning. Agrarian countries like India can take benefit of its large agricultural biomass waste pool to produce clean renewable energy. However, prior knowledge of spatio-temporal distribution, competing uses, and biomass characteristics are necessary for successful bioenergy planning. This paper assesses biomass resource and its power generation potential at different agro-climatic zone levels in the state of Rajasthan, India considering crop residue biomass (25 different crop residues from 14 crops) and livestock manure (from cattle, buffalo, and poultry). Uncertainties associated with the availability of biomass and the power generation potential are assessed for each agro-climatic zone under different scenarios. Greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions from biomass-based power generations are also estimated and compared with biomass-equivalent coal power plants. It is observed that the annual biomass power potential of Rajasthan is 3056 MW (2496 MW from crop residues and 560 MW from livestock manure). Scenario analysis suggests that the potential varies from 2445 to 6045 MW under different biomass availability and power plant operating conditions. Annual GHGs emissions due to biomass power generation is 5053 kt CO 2 eq. Replacing coal-based power with biomass power would result in annual GHGs savings of 11412 kt CO 2 eq. The paper also discusses various carriers and barriers viz. logistics, institutional, financial and technical in setting up decentralized bioenergy plants. Outcomes of the present study are expected to assist renewable energy planners in India. • Biomass resources and their power potential are assessed for Rajasthan, India. •Biomass power potential for different selected scenario ranges from 2445-6045 MW. •GHG emissions from biomass power is assessed and compared with fossil fuels. •Spatio-temporal variability, low density and logistics are limitations of biomass. •Favourable policies, technologies and market can help to promote bioenergy sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the role of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-based climate variability in modulating multivariate drought risks in the drought-prone region of Western Rajasthan in India. Droughts are multivariate phenomenon, often characterized by severity, duration and peak. By using multivariate ENSO index, annual drought events are partitioned into three climatic states - El Niño, La Niña and neutral phases. For multivariate probabilistic representation of drought characteristics, trivariate copulas are employed, which have the ability to preserve the dependence structure of drought variables under uncertain environment. The first copula model is developed without accounting the climate state information to obtain joint and conditional return periods of drought characteristics. Then, copula-based models are developed for each climate state to estimate the joint and conditional probabilities of drought characteristics under each ENSO state. Results of the study suggest that the inclusion of ENSO-based climate variability is helpful in knowing the associated drought risks, and useful for management of water resources in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues for the development of ‘network political ecology’, drawing on the insights from regional political ecology and recent advancements in network theories of scale, to meet the challenges of investigating the meso-scale problem of vulnerability and adaptation to climate change. ‘Network political ecology’, attentive to scale as socio-ecologically produced and grounded in a regional resource use system, is one such approach that fills this gap in middle-range theory necessary to understand the complex processes through which vulnerability manifests and adaptive capacity is produced. This method is exemplified through the case of groundwater-dependent irrigating farmers in Rajasthan, India. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The use of biomass burning, i.e., firewood from forests, is the main source of cooking energy of the Sahariya community, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), from Kishanganjblock of Baran district in Rajasthan. The forests in the area have dwindled over the years, as per the Rajasthan state forest reports. The people's perception of the reasons for degradation of forest in the area, indicates the role of local people in deforestation, mainly for local construction and household cooking energy needs. The dwindling forests have aggravated the struggles of Sahariya women in fetching firewood from long distances. Emissions from traditional biomass burning for cooking energy, contributes to health issues and the issue of climate change. This paper presents the study of Sahariya tribal households from Baran, who were provided with a fuel efficient cookstove, and the benefits assessed in terms of emission levels of particulates - PM10 and PM25, methane (CH4) and Poly-aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The results indicate that emission levels were reduced within the prescribed standards and households were able to significantly reduce their firewood requirement. This reduction in the household emissions and reduction in firewood requirement observed in Sahariya community, can be a pragmatic solution in the collective efforts of tackling the issue of deforestation and also a positive contribution towards reducing emissions of carbon particulates and GHGs from rural households. The co-benefits include reduced stress levels among women, as firewood requirement is reduced, and improvement in overall health of family members from improved indoor air quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in climate and socio-economic conditions pose a major threat to water security, particularly in the densely populated, agriculture-dependent and rapidly developing country of India. Therefore, for cogent mitigation and adaptation planning, it is important to assess the future evolution of drought hazard, vulnerability and risk. Earlier studies have demonstrated projected drought risk over India on the basis of frequency analysis and/or hazard assessment alone. This study investigates and evaluates the change in projected drought risk under future climatic and socio-economic conditions by combining drought hazard and vulnerability projections at a country-wide scale. A multivariate standardized drought index (MSDI) accounting for concurrent deficits in precipitation and soil moisture is chosen to quantify droughts. Drought vulnerability assessment is carried out combining exposure, adaptive capacity and sensitivity indicators, using a robust multi-criteria decision-making method called the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). In the worst-case scenario for drought hazard (RCP2.6-Far future), there is a projected decrease in the area under high or very high drought hazard classes in the country by approximately 7 %. Further, the worst-case scenario for drought vulnerability (RCP6.0-SSP2-Near future) shows a 33 % rise in the areal extent of high or very high drought vulnerability classes. The western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and western Rajasthan regions are found to be high risk under all scenarios. Bivariate choropleth analysis shows that the projected drought risk is majorly driven by changes in drought vulnerability attributable to societal developments rather than changes in drought hazard resulting from climatic conditions. The present study can aid policy makers, administrators and drought managers in developing decision support systems for efficient drought management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is a major concern in Rajasthan's water-stressed state. Climate change has a direct impact on the water resources in many parts of the state. In comparison to the rest of the country, the state has a larger portion of desert or arid lands (58% of the total geographical area) and limited water resources. Therefore, any adverse climate change conditions will likely have a catastrophic impact on the state's already vulnerable water resource system. Attempts have been made in this study to understand the state's climate conditions and highlight isolated past events that suggest climate change may occur in the state. It is emphasised that climate change modelling for various types of climate is required. To develop optimal water resource management strategies for different zones, cutting-edge tools such as remote sensing and geospatial tools must be used. The study's overarching goal is to comprehend the impact of climate change on the study area's water resources. The study's objectives are as follows: (1) to determine the effects of climate change on the water resources of the study location, (2) to investigate the nature and impact of climate change-induced drought disasters in the study area, (3) to identify methods and strategies for mitigating potential risks and vulnerabilities due to climatic variations and (4) determine the scope of research and policy action in response to identified current and future vulnerabilities, as well as the anticipated effects of climate change. The descriptive study used both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. A total of 100 respondents were chosen from the villages of Rajasthan's Tonk district for quantitative data collection and 05 in-depth interviews with various stakeholders were conducted for qualitative analysis. The study revealed that indigenous knowledge systems have allowed various communities in the area to live in harmony with their environments for generations and that their traditional knowledge systems are essential tools in environment conservation and natural disaster management. Again, according to the study, the majority of respondents believe that climate change is a cause of drought disasters, which should be addressed through effective participatory research. The qualitative interviews made known themes such as stakeholder participation, climate modelling, the impacts of climate change on key development sectors, adaptation needs, initiatives, opportunities, and so on. The findings imply that climate change is one of the critical reasons for the occurrence of drought disasters in the study area and the state as a whole; drought and climate change have severely impacted water resources. To conclude, the study emphasises the emerging need for research, policy, and action to mitigate the impact of climate change on water resources and related areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, an attempt has been made to examine the recent rainfall variability by means of daily rainfall data of 33 well-spread stations over dryland ecosystem of Rajasthan in north western India during 1961–2017. For trend analysis, Mann–Kendall, Sen's slope estimator, and simple linear regression test have been used (at 95% confidence level). The results have shown a high interannual variability in rainfall occurrence varying from 277 mm (in year 2002) to 839 mm (in year 1975) with mean of 583 mm over this dryland ecosystem. Most of the rainfall deficit years have occurred with El-Nino years. The mean annual rainfall has shown a marginal non-significant upward trend over the ecosystem. The station-wise mean annual rainfall has revealed a significant rising trend over Barmer, Churu, Ganganagar, Jaisalmer, and Pratapgarh stations. Interestingly, 3-year running average has shown a cyclic pattern of rainfall over dryland ecosystem under the changing climatic conditions. The spatial pattern has exhibited that the mean annual rainfall decreases from east and south east (more than 850 mm) to west and north west (less than 400 mm), which is mainly associated with the presence of Aravalli Mountains spreading north east to south west in central Rajasthan. Remarkably, majority of stations positioned in western parts of dryland ecosystem have shown increasing rainfall trends, whereas some stations located in eastern parts have recorded a non-significant declining trend. The magnitude of significant rising trend has varied from 5.34 mm/year (Pratapgarh station) to 2.17 mm/year (Jaisalmer station). Also, the frequency of heavy rainfall events has shown a positive trend with significant increasing trends over Bharatpur, Jaisalmer, and Pratapgarh stations, whereas Bundi station has shown significant decreasing trend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global community is in panic with fear of changing climate. Though it is very difficult to experience phenomenon of climate change but we can say that the climate is showing huge variability. To understand the impact of human on climate and vice-versa the knowledge of climate variability is necessary and moreover it helps in prediction of future trends of climate. In this paper spatio-temporal analysis of climate variation has been done by using interpolation technique. About 61 % of total area of India has dry climate and its typical example is western part of Rajasthan. In the Western Rajasthan during last 31 years the temperature has shown a great variability with an average rise of about 0.5 °C for the month of June and 0.8 °C for the month of January. During the same period the average annual rainfall has shown a decrease of 50 mm. With an overall rise in temperature over the region and changing precipitation trends the humidity provinces as defined by Thornthwaite, have shifted eastward. The climate variability studies can help to identify vulnerability of a region towards climate change which further helps in formulation of mitigation and adaptation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adhatoda vasica Nees, Boerhaavia diffusa L. and Parthenium hysterophorus L are common weeds of mixed habitats growing throughout the state of Rajasthan. Although higher plants develop their own defense strategies to overcome high temperature stress effects, these often are not enough, therefore substantial damage is observed. The metabolism in plants is altered in response to high temperature stress. Among the abiotic stresses, high temperature stress is one of the most detrimental stresses threatening higher plant productivity and survival throughout the world. Of all the enzymes studied in these three weeds, after PRO, catalase was found to be most tolerant to high temperature treatment In general, both GOT and GPT were also found to be relatively thermo stable. GOT and GPT enzymes of Adhatoda sp. exhibited comparatively better thermo tolerance than those of Boerhaavia sp. and Parthenium sp. In response to climatic changes, weeds pose challenges to crop plants. Further studies on the interactive relations between the two could give functional solutions leading to yield enhancement of crop plants in the proceeding decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the impacts of climate and socio-economic changes on water resources in the Beas-Sutlej river basin, Himalaya. Multiple-model ensembles of five climate models forced with the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 scenario and the Shared Socio-economic Pathway SSP 1 were used. A validated Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) model of the basin was used for assessing the resulting sectoral water allocations. The results showed increasing runoff during the pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons, principally as the respective consequences of increased glaciers melting and higher rainfall. The finding also indicates that ensemble mean annual irrigation water demand will decrease by between 8 and 13% in Punjab due to the conversion of agricultural land to urban centres but will increase in Rajasthan by about 14%. These outcomes will be useful for the Bhakra and Beas Management Board in developing adaptation strategies to cope with any future water shortages that may occur in the basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding farmers’ perspectives to climate change and adaptation is essential in designing effective and informed strategies to combat the associated vulnerability. The study assessed farmers’ perceptions to changing climatic conditions, their impacts, adaptation measures and constraints to adaptation in Bikaner district of Rajasthan. Our results showed that farmers perceived change in the distribution of rainfall, rise in temperature, increase in frequency of heat waves and droughts in the region. Further, degradation of common property resources, uncertainty in crop yields, increased soil salinity, farm unemployment and reduction in consumption were some of the potential non-climatic impacts as perceived by the farmers. As climate adaptation measures, farmers resorted to disease/heat tolerant varieties, plant protection chemicals and water conservation techniques. Moreover, lack of access to institutional credit, poorly defined property rights, inadequate infrastructure and information gaps were some of the major barriers to climate adaptation in the region. The study provides a useful guide for identifying region-specific issues and implementable adaptation strategies. Policy actions are needed in creating awareness, improving climate information services and development of infrastructure for climate resilient farming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change in the Indian Himalayan region is being manifested in the loss of glaciers and altered patterns of monsoon rainfall. Simultaneously, rapid population growth together with economic development are increasing sectoral water demands and changing land use patterns. This study investigated the impact of this complex interplay on water resources in the Beas-Sutlej water resources system. The GFDL-CM3 model was used to describe RCP8.5 future meteorological conditions throughout the 21st century. Population and land use changes were projected under the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway-1 (SSP1). The water evaluation and planning (WEAP) system was applied for assessing sectoral water demands. The results showed increasing runoff during the premonsoon and monsoon seasons due to increased glaciers melting and more rainfall, respectively. It also emerged that irrigation water demand decreased moderately in Punjab (8%–13%) and Haryana (1%–9%); however, the situation was reversed in Rajasthan where it increased by 14%. Adaptation strategies were proposed including increased water allocation to Rajasthan and converting lands to cultivating more staple crops in Punjab and Haryana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study analysed the changes in the rainfall, extreme indices and their future projections over Rajasthan state based on observed gridded datasets (1976-2005) and simulated climate models. The climate projections from two global circulation models (HadCM3 and GFCM21) are used in statistical downscaling tool LARS-WG5 (Long Ashton Research Station-Weather Generator) to generate future precipitation. Further, the changes in precipitation pattern are investigated for the baseline period and the future periods based on seven extreme precipitation indices. Three future periods are used for the analysis i.e., early century period 2011-2040 (2025s), a mid-century period of 2041-2070 (2055s) and a late-century period of 2071-2100 (2085s). The study area is classified in three regions based on elevation range i.e., region 1 (< 250 m), region 2 (251-350 m) and region 3 (350-1700 m). Based on results, it is observed that there is a possible decrease in monsoon precipitation at many grid points for all the three future periods. The maximum decrease in rainfall (−142 mm) is observed in Banswara for the period 2041-2070, while the maximum increase (37 mm) is found in Alwar along with Churu 1 and Ganganagar during the period 2071-2100. Consecutive dry days (CDD) is predicted to increase in the west and south-west direction, while it shows decrease values in eastern and central part of the study area with the maximum value in Ajmer district. The pattern in PRCPTOT revealed maximum negative change (− 90 mm) in southern parts, and maximum positive change in the northern regions (62.2 mm) in Churu 1. Further, R20 and RX5day are projected to decrease in all three regions in future with several magnitudes. For RX1day, a maximum positive change is observed in eastern parts (Jhalawar, Sawai Madhopur) and negative changes in the southern part of the study area. In case of R95p index, both positive and negative changes are observed. Similarly, the SDII indicates a positive change in 2011-2040 and negative changes for the remaining two future periods. Finally, SDII shows maximum positive changes in the south and southeastern regions (Jhalawar, Chittaurgarh) and positive changes in various parts with spatial and temporal changes. The results will help water resources planner to understand the change pattern in various precipitation indices in water scarce state of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 10-year period between 1999 and 2009, the district of Barmer, located in the Marwar region of Rajasthan, India, experienced 7 years of rainfall deficits, as well as instances of excessive rainfall. This increased variability in rainfall patterns in an area largely covered by the Thar Desert 'has exacerbated the region's already precarious environmental and land conditions. This article is based on ethnographic research conducted in this part of India, which is impacted by the numerous social, economic, and environmental outcomes of successive extreme weather events. It discusses the transformation of the ecosystem of the Thar Desert by drawing the outlines of the recent environmental history and by exposing local farmers' articulation of these changes. The meanings and subjectivities with which rural Rajasthan is endowed and which constitute farmers' identity are also addressed through the examination of the cultural construction of place. The analysis reveals that people's understanding of environmental change is intertwined with their broader worldview and their relationship with the elements that compose their immediate landscape. The author argues that a comprehensive understanding of the impact of climate change can only be reached by according more attention to the cultural dimensions of places. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most urgent challenges facing the world today is ensuring local water security under rapid climate variability and change. This is of particular importance in a country like India, where over half of the people are involved in farming, and agricultural losses due to climate change are estimated to be as high as 30 per cent by 2080. This ethnography in the arid village of Bhiwadi, West Rajasthan empirically links the reintroduction of local water harvesting technologies with the building of sustainable social reproduction in subsistent communities. By emphasising both the role of gender and the informal economy - and institutions - this ethnography provides a more thorough picture of the individuals and collective actors involved in localised and resilient technologies within global economic and climatic processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]