The Himalayan region supports about 20 percent of the world’s population.
Among the 12 states in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR), Assam is found to be the most vulnerable to the changing climate, according to a Department of Science and Technology (DST) vulnerability assessment.
The study, "Climate Vulnerability Assessment for the Indian Himalayan Region Using a Common Framework", was done by the Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati and the Indian Institute of Technology-Mandi in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, to help understand climate change vulnerabilities which could inform development of adaptation strategies and ecosystem management for the Himalayan region.
The study was part of the Swiss-funded Indian Himalayas Climate Adaptation Programme (IHCAP).
The assessment is significant for India as a majority of its population is dependent on agriculture which requires water.
Look out for them in 2019 Measuring climate change vulnerability The study explained that states with low per capita income, the low area under irrigation, low area under forests per 1,000 households and high area under open forests will receive a high vulnerability score.
"For example, Assam has the least area under irrigation, least forest area available per 1,000 rural households and the second lowest per capita income among the other IHR states, and thus scores the highest vulnerability score," the report observed.
"The state has seven major drivers of vulnerability – highest yield variability, no area under crop insurance, largest area under open forests, and largest area under slope (more than 30 percent as compared to other states.
"Relatively high vulnerability arising out of lack of irrigation has been compensated by the fact that the yield variability of food grains is much lower in the state, leading to not so high sensitivity of agricultural production.
But, as per the study, mountainous regions are one of the most fragile environments across the world and other preliminary studies reveal that the IHR will experience higher levels of climate change and its associated impacts.