Vulnerability
Climate Change Vulnerability is defined by the IPCC as the “The degree to which a system is susceptible to and unable to cope with adverse effects of Climate Change including climate variability and extremes. Vulnerability is a function of the character, magnitude and rate of Climate Change and variation to which a system is exposed, the sensitivity and adaptive capacity of that system.”
Exposure ‘refers to the nature and degree to which a system is exposed to significant climatic variations.’ for example, exposure to prolonged drought, frequent flood, severe and repetitive cyclone, coastal inundation etc.
Sensitivity ‘refers to the degree to which a system is affected, either adversely or beneficial by climate related stimuli. The effect may be direct (e.g. a change in crop yield in response to a change in the mean, range, or variability of temperature) or indirect (e.g. damages caused by an increase in the frequency of coastal flooding due to sea level rise.)’ and
Adaptive capacity refers to ‘the ability of a system to adjust to climate change- including climate variability and extremes- to moderate potential damages, to take advantage of opportunities, or to cope with the consequences.’
According to wikipedia, Climate change vulnerability (or climate vulnerability or climate risk vulnerability) is defined as the "propensity or predisposition to be adversely affected" by climate change. It can apply to humans but also to natural systems (ecosystems). Climate change vulnerability encompasses "a variety of concepts and elements, including sensitivity or susceptibility to harm and lack of capacity to cope and adapt." Vulnerability is a component of climate risk.
Vulnerability differs within communities and across societies, regions and countries, and can change over time. Approximately 3.3 to 3.6 billion people live in contexts that are highly vulnerable to climate change in 2021.
Vulnerability of ecosystems and people to climate change is driven by certain unsustainable development patterns such as "unsustainable ocean and land use, marginalisation, historical and ongoing patterns of inequity such as colonialism, and governance."
Therefore, vulnerability is higher in locations with "poverty, governance challenges and limited access to basic services and resources, violent conflict and high levels of climate-sensitive livelihoods (e.g., smallholder farmers, pastoralists, fishing communities)".
Some examples are:
Drought, Agricultural drought, Cyclone, tidal inundation, flood in coastal areas due to cyclone surge, flash flood in upper part of river basins, cloudburst and devastating floods.
Assessing vulnerability to climate change is important for defining the risks posed by climate change and provides information for identifying measures to adapt to climate change impacts. It enables practitioners and decision makers to identify the most vulnerable areas, sectors and social groups.
The impacts of and the vulnerabilities to climate change can vary across regions, economic sectors and social groups or types of systems considered.
Vulnerability, thus can be broken down into following major categories,
economic vulnerability, based on socioeconomic factors, (people with low income and people of specific occupations- fishing, pastoralists, agriculture, are more vulnerable as they don’t have money to invest in climate resilient infrastructure),
Social vulnerability, based on the different social groups i.e., coastal communities, urban dwellers, forest dwellers;
geographic vulnerability (regions prone to frequent climatic hazards- low lying coastal areas, islands, semi desert regions, indigenous people.)
Vulnerability of the system, based on the types of system considered i.e., natural, social, economic, socio-ecological system.
Any one assessment method does not suit all problems. Area, sector or system specific assessment techniques should be prepared.
Vulnerability is basically a theoretical concept and can not be measured directly. Measuring vulnerability is a systematic process of assigning numbers to a phenomena that we can observe.
Assessing vulnerability is thus mapping it to observable concepts. For example, temperature is the observable concept of heat.
Climate Change Vulnerability in India:
India lies in the centre of South Asia where most of the regions are very prone to climate change vulnerability. Tropical climate, poor economic structure (poverty), high population concentration, poor health infrastructure, high dependency on agriculture and other primary economic activities, highly dense low line coastal areas make these regions most vulnerable to climate extremes.
See video here: India's Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment
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