Theme 7-3-Vulnerability of climate and its impacts on regional drought over semiarid zone of India.

Abstract

The climate and its global changes may significantly affect the regional climate. The vulnerability of climate over a region is a function of the sensitivity of its natural resources. The sensitivity is expected to be intense over dry land zone and sharp when there is gradual increase in human population pressure. An attempt is made in this study to the vulnerability of the climate and water scarcity over a semiarid zone of west peninsula India. The water resource components are precipitation, river discharge, soil moisture stress and reservoir levels. A study on drought watch has been made using meteorological, hydrological and remote sensing data. The integrated impact of climate vulnerability, drought and manmade pressure has been assessed on water as well as vegetation.