Four districts climate change hotspots
- In Kerala, Alappuzha, Palakkad, Wayanad & Idukki are ‘climate change hotspot’ districts with high degree of vulnerability to natural threats like flood & drought & impact on biodiversity & human life.
- According to the State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) the most vulnerable districts are:
- Alappuzha – because of the network of environmentally sensitive wetlands, lagoons and sandy beaches.
- Palakkad – as their population depends on agriculture, a lower ranking in human development index (HDI) & higher social deprivation.
- Idukki, Wayanad, Thiruvananthapuram & Kannur – listed vulnerable because of the large area covered of dense forest cover & shola forest.
- Kannur – is vulnerable for its extensive mangrove forests.
- Thiruvananthapuram – makes it to list because it has registered medium values in terms of all indicators.
- To identify the hotspots the indicators considered are degree of vulnerability of agriculture, fisheries & forests, tribal population & low ranking in HDI.
- Estimations in case of any climate change :
- rise by 2 degrees Celsius by 2050
- minimum surface temperature in Western Ghats region to rise by 2 to 4.5 degrees Celsius
- number of rainy days may decrease along the entire western coast including the Western Ghats
- sea level may rise by 1 meter
- 169 sq km of the coastal region surrounding Kochi would be swamped.
- The implementing of SAPCC from the present year will be considered by The Department of Environment and Climate Change.
- The funding agency identified by the Global Environment Fund (GEF) is NABARD and other sources are yet to be figured out.
Exams Perspective:
- Global Warming
- Climate Change Hotspots
- National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC)
- NABARD
- Human Development Index (HDI)
- Shola Forests