Climate change has significant implications for health, food security, and livelihoods in India

A boy cools himself under an irrigation water pipe as northern Indian continues to reel under intense heat. AP

The Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emphasised that the global surface temperature will exceed the targets of 1.5 C and 2 C above pre-industrial levels set in the historic Paris Agreement (2015). It argued that human-induced climate change has deterred the normal functioning of the Earth Systems, atmosphere, ocean, and land. These systems have started to react to anthropogenic alterations in the form of heatwaves, precipitation variations, droughts, floods, and cyclones. The multidimensionality of repercussions of climate change aggravates the problem by inflicting negative impacts on a plethora of spaces, such as agriculture, health, food security, poverty, and livelihoods. 

The issue of climate change becomes complex as one explores its umpteen contextual underpinnings. The effects of global warming occupy big spaces in editorials and print media, but its differentiated impacts often remain unnoticed. The IPCC AR6 WG-II report indicated that 3.3 to 3.6 billion people in the world are highly vulnerable to climate change owing to their surrounding conditions of ecosystem, infrastructure, income, gender, food, and livelihood. In this context, countries like India face a predicament of addressing climate change and socio-economic constraints.

The Centre for Science and Environment’s India 2022: An Assessment of Extreme Weather Events Report highlighted that 241 out of the 273 days witnessed extreme weather. It implies that approximately 88% of days in the first nine months of 2022, some or the other part of India experienced heatwaves, excessive rainfall, droughts, and forest fires. These disasters took 2755 lives, destroyed 1.8 million hectares of crop area, decimated 416,667 houses and killed almost 70000 livestock. These figures are an understatement due to the lack of data. The greatest damage in terms of property loss and livestock damage was highest in Assam, which is highly vulnerable due to its limited adaptive capacity and increased exposure and sensitivity.

The heat waves in summer of 2022 caused widespread damage to the crops in India. Wheat was the most affected crop, whose yield plummeted by 25 per cent due to increased temperature leading to shrivelling and yellowing of grains. This decrease in yield had international repercussions as India- the second biggest producer- banned the export of wheat last year to counter grain shortage. The unusual rainfall and hailstorm last month damaged 5.23 lac hectares of crop area, threatening the incomes of farmers and livelihood. Another study found that crops like Wheat, maize, rice, and soybean crop yield will be reduced in the Low-middle-income countries (LMIC) in the long run. These impacts are detrimental to the farmers’ incomes in the face of rising inflation and shocks to livelihood. Increasing GHG concentrations have reduced the protein and mineral contents in the crops, resulting in nutrient deficiency, especially for the poor communities dependent on it. 

As per the 2020 Report of the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations, 416 Million people faced hunger in Asia, with India comprising a significant population. Similarly, India ranked 107 out of 121 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2022. It reflects the vast distance to be covered in the pursuit of ameliorating hunger, malnutrition, and poverty.

Climate change is going to have a colossal impact on the realm of health in India. Mosquito-borne diseases are sensitive to temperature and are expected to increase the instances of Aedes and Anopheles mosquito-induced diseases. 

Moreover, due to climate variability, animal-human encounters will increase, which could lead to the spillover of viral zoonoses. This risk cannot be ignored in the context of SARS-Cov-2 spread by bats. In 2019, India had 1.67 million deaths by risk factors of air pollution, which is even higher than high blood pressure-related deaths. 

The persistent social and economic impacts of climate change have taken a toll on the mental health of the poor population in India. Climate disasters such as forest fires pollute the local air quality, droughts, and landslides contaminate the aquifers leading to poor quality of water, which also adds to the deterioration of health. Repeated droughts, crop loss, and erratic rainfall damage the financial and mental well-being of the population leading to increasing cases of gender violence, suicides, and migration. While India’s health budget stands at a meagre 2.1 per cent of GDP, again the poor population is the one which is directly affected by the hapless state of health infrastructure.

While it is true that climate change is a global phenomenon, its impacts vary significantly in different regions. 51 per cent of the world’s population living in high and upper-medium-income countries is responsible for 86 per cent of emissions while the remaining 49 per cent of the poor and lower-middle-income population is responsible for only 14 per cent of global emissions. A study by a Japanese research institute showed that the top 20 per cent of high-expenditure households emit seven times more than the poor, who spend less than 140 rupees a day. 

India’s per-capita GHG emission stands at 1.91 tons per year, but the carbon footprint for the low-income population is much lower than this value.  The self-reinforcing nature of the Poverty-Environment Degradation loop binds the poorest in its inevitable trap; climate change forces people into poverty, while lack of resources forces these populations to increase pressure on the ecosystem. 

This represents the core of the argument that Rich are responsible for most damage to climate, but the brunt of repercussions is faced by the vulnerable poor. The challenge to address climate change is a colossal task for India, provided its intrinsic socio-economic constraints. India faces a dilemma of accomplishing the sustainable development goals of hunger, poverty and inequality, and climate change.

In all, climate change has significant implications for health, food security, and livelihoods in India. Climate Change threatens food security through erratic rainfall, droughts, and water shortages. Health is affected by increased temperature-sensitive vector diseases and micronutrient deficiency due to food shortage. These effects culminate in hindering the livelihoods of the poor population which is most dependent on nature for its sustenance.

The multidimensional nature of the relationship between climate change and associated reverberations makes it very difficult for India to address it, especially in the context of its socio-economically vulnerable population.

The author is a student of M.Sc Environment, Climate Change, and Sustainability Studies at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Views expressed are personal. 

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Updated Date:

April 22, 2023 17:04:51 IST