| Summary/Abstract |
The global climate is changing at rates that are unprecedented in recent human history and faster than the ability of natural system to adapt. Climate change is increasingly recognized as a critical challenge to ecological health, human well-being, livelihood security and future development (Singh and Heitala, 2014), as understood by the award of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007 to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (Leary et al., 2008). The risks of climate change and extreme events such as drought and flood have substantial impacts on economy and natural systems. Agriculture, livestock and water resources are among the most vulnerable systems. According to Sen Roy and Singh, 2002, changing climate elements and their extremes will significantly alter productivity in agriculture and forest ecosystem, which in turn will affect the socio-economic conditions of many societies. Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and intensity of current hazards and the probability of extreme events, and also to spur the emergence of new hazards (Nicholls and Lowe, 2006). Extreme events within the variability of the climate system are, by far, the largest cause of natural disasters worldwide each year (Kininmonth, 2004). Therefore, resilience and adaptive capacity of traditional networks and land use systems to cope with climate variability/extremes are weakening, while frequency and magnitude of climate variability and land use intensity are in rise. Thus, it is important to understand the phenomenon of climate change and associated vulnerability of different sectors, regions and people.
|