Nine states in India including Karnataka, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are on a list of top 50 provinces in Asia that are prone to damage from extreme weather and climate change, according to a new climate analysis report published today.
Cross Dependency Initiative (XDI), part of a group of companies committed to quantifying and communicating the costs of climate change, calculated the physical climate risk to the built environment in over 2,600 states and provinces around the world in 2050. While Asia dominates the list of provinces at risk, India has the highest number of states (9) in the top 50 regions at risk, which include Bihar (22nd spot), Uttar Pradesh (25), Assam (28), Rajasthan (32), Tamil Nadu (36), Maharashtra (38), Gujarat (48), Punjab (50) and Kerala (52), after China.
The report is only focused on built environment which refers to aspects of our surroundings that are built by man to support human activity like homes and work places. Assam would see the maximum increase -- over 330% by 2050 as compared to 1990 -- in climate risk to the built environment, the report said.
This is the first time there has been a physical climate risk analysis focused exclusively on the built environment, comparing every state, province and territory in the world. The report also noted that Pakistan has multiple provinces in the top 100 provinces at risk, including Sindh province. "Devastating flooding between June and August 2022 affected 30% of the area of Pakistan and has partially or fully damaged more than 900,000 houses in Sindh province," the report said.
(With inputs from PTI)
