Context:
- A World Bank report has found that rising temperatures and changing monsoon rainfall patterns from climate change could cost India 2.8% of GDP and depress the living standards of nearly half the country’s population by 2050.
- The report, ‘South Asia’s Hotspots: The Impact of Temperature and Precipitation Changes on Living Standards’, has been authored by World Bank.
About the Report & Its findings:
- It looks at six countries in South Asia and how projected changes in temperature and precipitation will affect living standards in these countries.
- Using annual household consumption as a proxy for living standards, the report identifies “hotspots” — districts where these changes will have a notable effect on living standards.
- For the region, it has found that India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will be adversely affected by these changes, while Afghanistan and Nepal will benefit as they are relatively cold.
- For India, it has projected that living conditions in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh will decline by more than 9%, followed by Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
- Of the top 10 most affected hotspot districts, 7 (Chandrapur, Bhandara, Gondiya, Wardha, Nagpur, Raj Nandgaon, Durg) are in Vidarbha and the remaining 3 in Chhattisgarh and MP.
Climate-sensitive and Carbon-intensive:
- The report looks at two scenarios: climate-sensitive and carbon-intensive.
- Climate-sensitive represents a future “in which some collective action is taken to limit greenhouse gas emissions and global annual average temperatures increase by 2.4°C by 2100 relative to pre-industrial levels.
- Carbon-intensive, on the other hand, represents a future in which no actions are taken to reduce emissions and global annual average temperatures increase 4.3°C by 2100 relative to pre-industrial levels.
Source: Indian Express