Deepening Climate Crisis

Today the Uttarakhand Himalayan region is at a critical juncture, grappling with environmental challenges that are rapidly worsening due to climate change. Escalating temperatures, unpredictable weather patterns and extreme precipitation events are wreaking havoc on the local ecosystem, infrastructure and livelihoods, demanding immediate attention and action.

According to a report titled Environmental Challenges and Concurrent Trend of Weather Extremes over Uttarakhand Himalaya, Uttarakhand’s weather patterns have become increasingly erratic due to climate change. The state’s hilly terrain presents a unique challenge in the form of elevation-dependent warming (EDW). This concept refers to the observation that temperatures are rising more rapidly at higher elevations in the state. The report authored by Pramod Kumar, Arbind Patel, Jaya Rai and Prem Kumar noted that the implications of this warming trend are significant, as it is causing glaciers to melt faster, leading to shifts in local biodiversity and making the region more vulnerable to forest fires and habitat destruction. Conversely, lower elevations are experiencing a decreasing trend of very wet days. Understanding the concept of EDW is crucial, as it leads to more frequent occurrences of hot days and nights, exacerbating the impact of climate change on agriculture and natural resources.

Global warming has led to a rise in hot days and nights, especially in the summer, which has increased forest fires. Over the last four decades, forest fires have become more frequent and intense due to the higher temperatures and dry conditions. The loss of vegetation and the decreasing leaf area index (LAI) further intensify the vulnerability to fires, contributing to soil erosion and landslides.

On the other hand, erratic rainfall patterns have increased landslides and flash floods, particularly at Uttarakhand’s higher elevations. The number of stormy days is rising while overall precipitation is decreasing. Heavy rainfall events, like the 2013 cloudburst disaster, have led to unprecedented damage, highlighting the region’s susceptibility to extreme weather events. The increase in extreme precipitation events, especially in areas with unstable geology, poses a growing threat to infrastructure and human life.

There has been a significant increase in very wet and extremely rainy days, notably at higher elevations. This has led to more frequent flash floods, landslides and severe damage to infrastructure and agriculture. Flash floods, like those in 2013, are now recurring threats, further destabilising the fragile ecosystem.

Rising temperatures, erratic precipitation and environmental degradation are not just statistics; they are making it increasingly difficult for the local population to sustain their livelihoods in the region. This human impact of climate change is a stark reminder of the urgent need for action.

Extreme weather is aggravated by a chaotic development process that spanned many years. The province’s enormous deforestation of mountain regions and, more recently, development activities have undermined mountain slopes and increased the frequency and intensity of landslides and flash floods by causing soil erosion and water run-off. These challenges force the population of the Uttarakhand hilly region to out-migrate for a better and more secure livelihood. Climate change has provoked outmigration from hilly districts of Uttarakhand, which is a worrying trend.

Agriculture, which supports most of the population, is impacted more profoundly. Climate change is also poised to harm livelihoods based on livestock husbandry, forestry, curative plants and non-wood forest products. As a result, many are forced to migrate from the hills to the plains in search of better opportunities, creating a pattern of climate-induced migration.

Climate change has dramatically altered Uttarakhand’s environmental and socio-economic fabric. Many anthropogenic activities, including land grazing and deforestation, mining, illegal construction and encroachment, are a few well-known contributing human activities that considerably account for landslides in the Uttarakhand Himalayan terrain.

Activities such as deforestation, overgrazing and forest clearing uproot trees and plants, which lead to sediment loosening and enhanced erosion, make the land unconsolidated and weak. They make it vulnerable to creep and mudflow accompanied by landslides.

These examples underscore the urgency of addressing the impacts of climate change in Uttarakhand, where both natural ecosystems and human settlements are increasingly at risk from these intensifying environmental challenges.

As the region grapples with increasingly severe weather extremes, it becomes more than essential for policymakers to urgently implement adaptive measures and long-term solutions to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change.

There has been a severe lack of substantial measures at the policy level to combat climate-forced migrations at the regional level. Among the various measures proposed include implementing a rapid and effective early warning system for anthropogenic and natural disasters to cope with forest fires, flash floods and intense rainfall-led landslides, avoiding erratic construction along the hilly terrains of the state because Land Use Land Cover shift shows that substantial road and dam construction renders people more vulnerable to dangers, and continuous migration census or survey is needed over Uttarakhand. These adaptive measures and long-term solutions are crucial to protecting this fragile ecosystem’s environment and communities. Long-term planning, strategic thinking and decisive action are key to ensuring the sustainability of Uttarakhand’s future.