Climate Change and Biodiversity: Study of India

Climate Change and Biodiversity: A Case Study of India(Himachal Pradesh Region)

Introduction
Changes in global weather patterns over the past six or seven decades are meant by the term “climate change,” which has hurt the average temperature, precipitation, wind speed, carbon-di-oxide levels, groundwater table, ocean levels, solar ultraviolet radiations, and forest cover. Global populations of bacteria, plants, animals, and humans are all affected by these long-term alterations because they cause noticeable shifts in their physiology that go beyond the threshold of human perception. The cumulative impact of global and regional climate change trends is expected to render our planet uninhabitable, maybe in the distant future. Already, certain parts of the world are showing symptoms of an inability to sustain life. Desertification has become a serious issue because the groundwater table has been depleted. Many insects, birds, and animals have seen their habitats disappear due to urbanization’s destruction of forest homes.
Forest ecosystems play a significant role in the biogeochemical cycle and influence global climate. It is possible to accurately locate the boundaries of forest biomes by analyzing weather patterns, particularly temperature and moisture. Due to their interdependence, climate and forest ecosystems will be affected by significant changes. From paleo-ecological records, forest vegetation may respond rapidly to climate change, perhaps within just a few years. If the average global temperature were to climb more than 2-3 °C over the pre-industrial level, the extinction rate of 20-30% of the world’s plant and animal species would increase, as Bharti et al., (2021). IPCC warns that in the 21st century, climatic and non-climate pressures will cause widespread forest die-off, biodiversity loss, and diminished ecological services. Climate change is predicted to be the most significant threat to terrestrial ecosystems in the second half of the 21st century under high emission scenarios such as RCP6.0 and 8.5(Chauhan & Chauhan, 2020). Suppose climate change accelerates beyond what is projected under the RCP2.6 scenario. In that case, it will significantly impact the distribution and function of terrestrial ecosystems at high altitudes and latitudes. An ecosystem’s susceptibility to climate change is proportional to its capacity to preserve its structure, composition, and function in the face of such change by withstanding or adapting to it. The degree to which ecological processes are sensitive to individual components of a changing climate is a measure of vulnerability.
The Himalayan and other sections of India suffer from extreme heat and heavy rainfall. Human-caused climate change is partly to blame for these discrepancies. Industrial and human-caused emissions are warming India, altering precipitation patterns, and increasing the likelihood of weather-related disasters. Although no nation is completely safe from these weather patterns, India is especially susceptible. This research aims to establish a connection between environmental shifts and species diversity. The study’s overarching goal is to zero down on the geographical and temporal characteristics of Himachal Pradesh’s climate. It looks at the state’s biodiversity level and how climate change impacts it.
Problem Statement
The Himalayan areas are particularly susceptible to the effects of climate change because they contain some of the world’s most fragile ecosystems and because the livelihoods of its inhabitants are intricately intertwined with their natural resource base. As a result of global warming, any shift in the region’s natural resources would have far-reaching consequences. There is a pressing need for Himachal Pradesh to take particular actions to adjust to the predicted effects of this worldwide phenomenon. As a result, environmental protection has become a top priority for state officials. To counteract climate change, we need a multifaceted strategy on the part of governments, communities, and individuals. The state administration is carefully advancing along the road to growth to ensure that the state’s ecology is not harmed. The state government has established many programs to safeguard the natural world. Himachal Pradesh, a state in the Himalayas, has made environmental conservation a primary priority in its development plans, and it is on track to become the first carbon-neutral state in India and maybe all of Asia.
Research Questions
1. How do the forests of various Himachal Pradesh districts fare in the ‘present climate’ scenario?
2. Which areas’ forests are more vulnerable to the ‘future climate’ scenario?
3. Which municipalities should get the most attention when making plans to adapt to climate change?
Significance of the Study
This research aims to establish a connection between environmental shifts and species diversity. The study’s overarching goal is to zero down on the geographical and temporal characteristics of Himachal Pradesh’s climate. It looks at the state’s biodiversity level and how climate change impacts it. The significance of biodiversity in mitigating climate change is emphasized, as is the effect of climate change on biodiversity. After that, it goes into the several policy actions and management strategies that may be taken to contain and reduce the problem, making way for a more stable and sustainable future environment. For the most part, this is what the paper focuses on.
Definition of Terms
Climate Change- Climate change is a phenomenon through which weather and temperature patterns have changed throughout the years. These changes might have a natural origin, such as sun orbit alterations. However, human actions, especially the combustion of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas, have been the primary cause of climate change since the 1800s.
Biodiversity- Biodiversity refers to the wide range of organisms and ecosystems on Earth. Biodiversity refers to the extent to which a given ecosystem has a wide range of genetic, species-level, and ecological variety.
Precipitation- Water falling from the sky in the rain, sleet, snow, or hail.
Desertification- Desertification is the deterioration of land in arid regions due to natural and human-caused causes.
Forest Ecosystems- Forest ecosystems are sections of the terrain dominated by trees and comprised of interdependent populations of plants, animals, microorganisms, and the local soils and atmospheres.
Ecology- Ecology is the scientific discipline that examines the interdependence of various forms of life with their physical surroundings.
Terrestrial ecosystems- Ecosystems located on land are known as terrestrial ecosystems. Tundra, taiga, temperate deciduous woodland, tropical rainforest, grassland, and desert are all arid ecosystems.
Multifaceted strategy- Complex interventions include at least two items from the EPOC’s implementation strategy taxonomy.

Literature Review
Reviewing the relevant literature might reveal novel approaches to addressing the topic of interest—a brief assessment of the article on the chosen subject. The following works were studied to provide a foundation for the research project: To determine the results of studies conducted in the field of marine biology between 1999 and 2017, Kumar and Alex (2019) conducted a literature review(Alex& Kishore, 2019). They looked at how publications varied by year, country, language, and source format. The doubling time and rate of increase in publication volume were determined. Scientometric methodology for climate change and global warming research was represented by Sangam, Shivappa, and Savitha (Sangam, Shivappa &Savitha, 2019). The information collected from Web of Science from 2001 to 2016. They looked at the number of publications, the distribution of authors, the collaborative index, the depth of partnerships, and the number of well-known writers. The number of books published rose steadily each year. Research using several authors rather than just one has grown.
Isaac Newton and Gomathi, in their 2018 study, focused on a scientometric analysis of climate change studies published between 2008 and 2010(Issac Newton, & Gomathi, 2018). Individual scientific indicators, the distribution of research results, selecting academic journals for libraries, and assessing a fields potential all use scientometric methods. The broad acceptance of the application of scientometric analysis in a variety of sectors has led to significant growth in the scientometrics and related literature over the last few years. The information for this research came from the Web of Science. We examined the language, copyright, and document type of the studies that established global warming as a genuine reality using the Bibxel bibliography analysis tool. The literature on climate change published in Tanzania between 2006 and 2016 was evaluated by Sophia Lukwale and Alfred Sife(Lukwale et al., 2019). This study analyzed the evolution of many subfields of climate science, as well as the collaborations between various groups working on this issue. Citation patterns were analyzed, and the contributions of each scholar were weighed. These findings suggest that there were 319 scholarly publications during the last decade or around 32 each year on average. Haunschild et al. (2016) conducted a bibliometric analysis of works published on the issue of climate change and presented a range of quantitative data(Haunschild et al., 2016). Publication increase is examined, as well as the contributions of various niche fields, countries, and journals and the rise in citations to published works. Ali, Hydar, and Adithyakumari assessed the outcomes of biodiversity research undertaken between 2003 and 2012, taking into account characteristics such as citation impact, international cooperation, subject area contributions, the production of top Indian universities, and the output of prominent authors(Ali, Hydar & Adithyakumari, 2015). Data was collected from the Web of Science database over a decade.
Methodology
Data
This project will conduct a secondary analysis and a primary survey in the Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh. There will be a bar chart and a pie chart from the collected data. The Internet, the Himachal Pradesh Forest Department Report, the Indian Meteorological Department, the Himachal Pradesh Census Handbook, the Global Land Cover Futures website for satellite imagery, and several publications and research papers will be studied for secondary data. The word “biodiversity” will be defined, and its prevalence in the Himachal Pradesh area will be examined. Information about climate change will be derived from official government sources and people’s first-hand accounts in their communities. Diversity of Life in the Area: There is a great deal of flora and fauna in Himachal Pradesh. To paraphrase the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity’s definition, biodiversity is “the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species, and of ecosystems.”
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change likewise emphasizes these three tiers. The Himachal Pradesh forest department estimates that 36,503 square kilometres are currently covered with trees. Himachal Pradesh is home to 3,295 plant species, or 7.32% of the country’s total, and 7,745 animal species, or a little over 1% of the total(Kumar et al., 2019). About 7.4 per cent of India’s total fauna may be found in Himachal Pradesh, which is home to 5,721. Over 3,500 plant species, 77 animal species, 463 bird species, 44 reptile species, 436 aquatic fauna species, and two national parks have been protected here(Kumar et al., 2019). The state has six different kinds of forests: subalpine/Alpine, subtropical wet temperate, subtropical dry temperate, and tropical dry deciduous.
For this reason, the region’s abundance of plant and animal life carries significant climatic risks. Regional climate: Himachal Pradesh’s height ranges from 450 to 6,500 meters, resulting in a wide range of climates(Kumar et al., 2019). The Himalayas have four distinct regions: the Shivaliks, the middle and high hills, the high Himalayas, and the Trans-Himalayan region. Figure 1.1 shows the climate characteristics of each zone.

Figure 1.1. Specifics and Traits of the Various Climate Regions

References
Alex, P. & Kishore. (2019, January 1). Climate Change Research Literature in India: A Scientometric Analysis during 1991 – 2018. CORE. Retrieved October 27, 2022, from https://core.ac.uk/outputs/286730360
Ali, H., & Adithyakumari, H. (2015). “Biodiversity: A Scientometric Analysis of Publications Output from India during 2003-2012”. Journal of Advancements in Library Sciences, p. 2, 41-47p.
Burgess, R., Greenstone, M., Donaldson, D., & Deschenes, O. (2n.d.). Weather, climate change and death in India – epic. Retrieved October 27, 2022, from https://epic.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Publication-9.pdf
Bharti, H., Sharma, P., Panatu, A., Randhawa, S. S., & Thakur, N. (2021). Impact of climate change on agriculture, horticulture and forestry in Himachal Pradesh-A Review. Journal of Research: THE BEDE ATHENAEUM, 12(1), 68-76.
Chauhan, S. V., & Chauhan, S. (2020). Climate changes and trends in phenology of cassia fistula L. in Agra (India)—1965-2019. Journal of Native and Alien Plant Studies, (16), 23–31. https://doi.org/10.37555/2707-3114.16.2020.219808
Haunschild, R., Bornmann, L., & Marx, W. (2016). Climate Change Research in view of Bibliometrics. PLOS ONE, 11(7). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0160393
Issac Newton, A., & Gomathi, P. (2018). “Research output on Global Warming during the year of 2008-2010: A Scientometric Analysis”. Int J Recent Sci Re, 9(1), 23014-23018. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24327/ijrsr.2018.0901.1381
Krishnan, R., Sanjay, J., Gnanaseelan, C., Mujumdar, M., Kulkarni, A., & Chakraborty, S. (2020, July 14). Assessment of climate change over the Indian region: A report of the ministry of earth sciences (moes), Government of India. OAPEN Home. Retrieved October 27, 2022, from https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/39973
Kumar, A., Parkash, V., Gupta, A., & Aggarwal, A. (2019). Biodiversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with selected medicinal plants of Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh, India. Int J Phytopharm, 8(6), 306–311.
Lukwale, Sophia., & Sife, Alfred. (2017). “Climate change research trends in Tanzania: A bibliometric analysis”. International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation, pp. 9, 224-231.
Negi, V. S., Pathak, R., Sekar, K. C., Rawal, R. S., Bhatt, I. D., Nandi, S. K., & Dhyani, P. P. (2017). Traditional Knowledge and Biodiversity Conservation: A case study from Byans Valley in Kailash Sacred Landscape, India. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 61(10), 1722–1743. https://doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2017.1371006
Sangam, S. L., & Savitha, K. S. (2019). Climate change and global warming: A scientometric study. COLLNET Journal of Scientometrics and Information Management, 13(1), 199-212.
Sangam, Shivappa., & Savitha, K S. (2019). “Climate change and global warming: A scientometric study”. COLLNET Journal of Scientometrics and Information Management, 13. 10.1080/09737766.2019.1598001
Sahu, N., Sayama, T., Saini, A., Panda, A., & Takara, K. (2020). Understanding the hydropower and potential climate change impact on the Himalayan river regimes—A study of local perceptions and responses from Himachal Pradesh, India. Water, 12(10), 2739.
Tewari, V. P., Verma, R. K., & Von Gadow, K. (2017). Climate change effects in the Western Himalayan ecosystems of India: evidence and strategies. Forest Ecosystems, 4(1), 1-9.