Climate Change and Environment

 

Climate Change And Environment.

1.Chipko Andolan

In 20 years, Chipko has acquired many facets, primarily as a conservation endeavor by the poor, a struggle for local control of natural resources and an effort by women to protect their environment. Chipko influenced the world, but have its local objectives been met? Author toured the districts of Garhwal and Kumaon and met the people behind the Chipko and those whose lives it has touched. He traced the origins and the spread of Chipko and assesses its contributions, its discord and it’s standing today. In the Crosscurrents section five Chipko observers, some of whom have been linked with the movement, present their views and a Chipko heroin, Gayatri Devi recounts the hard days.

The Chipko movement can essentially be called a women's movement. Women, being solely in charge of cultivation, livestock and children, lost all they had because of floods and landslides, caused due to rise in deforestation in the face of urbanization. The Chipko movement was a non-violent agitation in 1973 that was aimed at protection and conservation of trees, but, perhaps, it is best remembered for the collective mobilization of women for the cause of preserving forests, which also brought about a change in attitude regarding their own status in society. The uprising against the felling of trees and maintaining the ecological balance originated in Uttar Pradesh’s Chamoli district (now Uttarakhand) in 1973 and in no time spilled onto other states in north India. The name of the movement ‘Chipko’ comes from the word ’embrace’, as the villagers hugged the trees and encircled them to prevent being hacked. However, not many people know that the original Chipko andolan dates back to the 18th century and was started by Rajasthan’s Bishnoi community.

 The incident has been etched in the annals of history for the sacrifice of a group of villagers, who led by a lady named Amrita Devi, laid down their lives while protecting trees from being felled on the orders of then King of Jodhpur. After this incident, the king, in a royal decree, banned cutting of trees in all Bishnoi villages. The trigger for the modern Chipko movement was the growth in development that Uttar Pradesh witnessed following the 1963 China border conflict. The need for infrastructural development attracted many foreign logging companies, who were eyeing the state’s vast forest resources. However, the forests were the lifeblood of the villagers and they relied on it for both food and fuel. In 1970, widespread floods inundated the area and was attributed to the mismanagement due to commercial logging. The other reason that angered the villagers was the government’s policy that did not allow local agriculturists and herders to cut the trees for fuel wood or for fodder and for certain other purposes. However, a sports manufacturing company was given the permission to fell trees and use them to make equipment, which proved to be the final provocation and a people’s movement was born. It was then that environmentalist and Gandhian social activist Chandi Prasad Bhatt, founder of the cooperative organization Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh, led the first Chipko movement near the village of Mandal in 1973. The Chipko Movement gained traction under Sunderlal Bahuguna, an eco-activist, who spent his life persuading and educating the villagers to protest against the destruction of the forests and Himalayan mountains. It was his endeavor that saw then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi banning the cutting of tress. Bahuguna is best remembered for the slogan “ecology is the permanent economy”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.FARMING CHALLENGES IN VIEW OF CLIMATE CHANGE.

 

Agriculture is vulnerable to climate change and a source of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Farmers face pressures to adjust agricultural systems to make them more resilient in the face of increasingly variable weather (adaptation) and reduce GHG production (mitigation). This research examines relationships between Iowa farmers’ trust in environmental or agricultural interest groups as sources of climate information, climate change beliefs, perceived climate risks to agriculture, and support for adaptation and mitigation responses. Results indicate that beliefs varied with trust, and beliefs in turn had a significant direct effect on perceived risks from climate change. Support for adaptation varied with perceived risks, while attitudes toward GHG reduction (mitigation) were associated predominantly with variation in beliefs. Most farmers were supportive of adaptation responses, but few endorsed GHG reduction, suggesting that outreach should focus on interventions that have adaptive and mitigative properties (e.g., reduced tillage, improved fertilizer management).

Agriculture is a major source of GHGs which contribute to the greenhouse effect and climate change. However, the changing climate is having far reaching impacts on agricultural production, which are likely to challenge food security in the future. The principal barrier to food security is currently food access. Sufficient food is produced globally to feed the current world population, yet more than 10% are undernourished.

Climate change is likely to contribute substantially to food insecurity in the future, by increasing food prices, and reducing food production. Food may become more expensive as climate change mitigation efforts increase energy prices. Water required for food production may become scarcer due to increased crop water use and drought. Competition for land may increase as certain areas become climatically unsuitable for production. In addition, extreme weather events, associated with climate change may cause sudden reductions in agricultural productivity, leading to rapid price increases. For example, heat waves in the summer of 2010 led to yield losses in key production areas including: Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, and contributed to a dramatic increase in the price of staple foods. These rising prices forced growing numbers of local people into poverty, providing a sobering demonstration of how the influence of climate change can result in food insecurity. The gradual increases in temperature and carbon dioxide may result in more favorable conditions that could increase the yields of some crops, in some regions, these potential yield increases are likely to be restricted by extreme events, particularly extreme heat and drought, during crop flowering. Crop production is projected to decrease in many areas during the 21st century because of climatic changes. This is illustrated in figure 2 which summarizes average crop yield projections across all emission scenarios, regions, and with- or without- adaptation by farmers, showing an increasing trend towards widespread yield decreases. Projected changes in climate are not limited to increases in temperature and heat waves; large changes in rainfall patterns are also expected to occur. While some regions are likely to suffer from more droughts in the future, other regions are expected to face the opposing issues of torrential rains and increased flooding. In coastal areas, rising sea levels may result in complete loss of agricultural land. Warmer climates may also lead to more problems from pests and diseases, and shifts in the geographical distribution of certain pests. For example, insects that serve as a vector for disease transmission are likely to migrate further pole-ward in the future, where livestock have so far not been exposed to these diseases. The responses of yield to various stresses have been well defined through experimentation in many crops. Quantifying these responses, and identifying when agriculture is most vulnerable to stress, is beneficial in helping to identify the most efficient strategies for adaptation. Crop-level adaptation to climate change is expected to be key in minimizing future yield losses and may involve: changing crop cultivars, sowing time, cultivation techniques, and/or irrigation practices. Ongoing research is addressing the challenges of maintaining and/or increasing crop production under global change. Some risks to crop production from climate change and extreme weather events have been identified, and strategies suggested to help maintain production. These include: restoring farm type, crop, or cultivar scale diversity into food systems, to improve their resilience and making crop improvements that enhance stress tolerance. Other strategies may include developing pre-defined, international responses to food shortages in order to prevent food price shocks that might reduce people’s access to food.