‘90% of Himalayas to face drought if mercury rises 3°C’

PTI

New Delhi, February 29

About 90% of the Himalayan region will experience drought lasting over a year if global warming increases by 3 degrees Celsius, according to new research. The findings, published in the journal Climatic Change, show that 80% of the increased human exposure to heat stress in India can be avoided by adhering to Paris Agreement's temperature goals of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to 3 degrees Celsius warming. The team, led by researchers at the University of East Anglia in the UK quantified how climate change risks to human and natural systems increase at a national scale as the level of global warming increases.

A collection of eight studies — all focusing on India, Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia and Ghana — shows that the risks of drought, flooding, declines in crop yields, and loss of biodiversity and natural capital greatly increase for each additional degree of global warming. It found that in India, pollination is reduced by half at 3-4 degrees global warming compared to a quarter reduction at 1.5 degrees. Limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius allows half the country to act as a refuge for biodiversity, compared with 6% at 3 degrees, researchers said.

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