Background:
Climate change issues are of global concern all over the world but pose major challenge
over mountain environment as mountain ecosystem is highly vulnerable and sensitive
to the climatic variations. Mountains cover close to 20 percent of the Earth's surface,
providing a home to approximately one-tenth of the global human population. With
their steep and varied topography, and distinct altitudinal ecological zones, mountains
support a high diversity of species and ecosystems and a large percentage of global
endemic species. Mountainous areas throughout the world provide essential resources
such as timber, minerals, recreational escapes, and a significant portion of the
freshwater consumed by humans. They are rich sites for cultural diversity. Mountains
have a special role in showing the effects of climate change. The Himalayan ecosystem
has 51 million people who practice hill agriculture and whose vulnerability is expected
to increase on account of climate change.
The recent IPCC reports warns that mountain ecosystem is much more susceptible to
the vagaries of climate change than the other regions of earth and poses serious
challenge to the people of mountain regions in dealing with this global threat for
sustaining their economic and social development. The state of Himachal Pradesh,
which forms a part of the Northwestern Himalaya, is environmentally fragile and
ecologically vulnerable. occurence of natural hazards emanating from the effects
of climatological variations are a matter of immediate concern to the state of Himachal
Pradesh, as every year the state experiences the fury of nature in various forms-like
cloudburst, flash floods, landslides, snow avalanches droughts etc. The fragile
ecology of the mountain state coupled with large variations in physio-climatic conditions
has rendered it vulnerable to vagaries of climate. The incidence of cloudbursts
in the last few years has baffled both the meteorologist and the common man equally.
Notwithstanding, continuous efforts made by the Government to cope with such hazards
through relief and rehabilitation measures, the recurrence of uncertainties continue
to inflict widespread harm and damage to human life as well as property. The roads
that are the state’s lifeline are repeatedly damaged, blocked or washed away by
one or the other acts of nature. The Snow and glaciers which are considered to be
best indicators of changing climate have been affected by the rising temperature
through out the Himalayan belt. It has been observed that the estimates on the magnitude
of glacial retreat and their impact on natural resources have been varying considerably.
However the impact of climate change and rising temperature has been noticed even
by a common man in far flung parts of the Himalayan eco system. Depletion of small
glacierets in the Himachal Himalaya which were providing the sustained discharge
to many rivulets for irrigation to agriculture fields and sustaining the water resources
in downstream areas has been reported by the villagers.
Considering the sensitivity of the state towards the vagaries of nature and changing
climate, a State Centre has been set up to understand the dynamics of climate change
and to evolve management measures with the active involvement of experts such as
glaciologist, climatologist, agriculturist, horticulturist, foresters, social scientist
etc. This centre shall also take up community based management of micro ecosystem
for ensuring the stability of the fragile watersheds of the state of Himachal Pradesh.