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Environmental challenges and concurrent trend of weather extremes over Uttarakhand Himalaya

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Abstract

Environmental challenges, including climate change-influenced weather extremes over the hilly region, are a major issue for the sustenance/ livelihood of Uttarakhand Himalayan biodiversity. The very high maximum temperature during summer days makes the area vulnerable to frequent forest fires, while the increasing frequency of intense rainfall proves devastating to infrastructure, croplands, and vegetation. Such erratic climate patterns make it increasingly difficult for people to live in the mountains and thus lead to climate-forced migration towards the plains. The investigation is concerned with weather/climate extremes and precisely how this affects the Himalayan people of Uttarakhand. Analysis of the extreme precipitation and temperature indicators for landslides and forest fire events has been performed. For the entire Uttarakhand region, strong declining trends have been observed for total precipitation, total runoff, soil water content, and leaf area index (LAI) for the ERA5 reanalysis datasets from 1981 to 2020 (40 years). Over central to western Uttarakhand, a consistent increase in the number of consecutive dry days is noticed both in the winter and the summer. The upper elevations of Uttarakhand nonetheless perceive days that are very wet and rainy. Over the hilly regions of Uttarakhand, elevation-dependent warming (EDW) continues to worsen climatic and weather extremes, making sustenance challenging. Over higher elevations, intense rainfall events are the main cause of landslides and flash floods. The frequency of very warm days and nights formerly increases over Uttarakhand’s mountainous region, while the number of very cold days and nights declines. In the past forty years, there has been a rise in weather extremes in the Uttarakhand Himalaya. However, the community and decision-makers believe it difficult to cope with the extreme weather driven due to climate change. Thereafter, findings of this study will support in developing policies for the long-term development of Uttarakhand’s mountainous regions.

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Acknowledgements

The author is thankful to DST-CPR IIT Delhi for providing the resources for this study. The authors also acknowledge ERA5, APHRODITE, MODIS, SEDAC, Bhuvan, and Bhukosh for the provision of freely accessible data used in the study. The authors acknowledge Dr. Madhavi Jain, Dr. Dhirendra Kumar, and Dr. Vishwambhar Prasad Sati for proofreading and their comments. We also appreciate to Dr. Krishna Achutarao for supervision, proofread, and conceptualization, and Dr. Ambuj D Sagar for supervision, continuous mentoring.

Funding

This work is carried out preceding the project entitled “Enhancing India’s Policy Analysis Capabilities to Meet Energy and Environment Challenges”, funded by the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (UK) (CIFF).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Policy, IIT Delhi, New Delhi, India

    Pramod Kumar

  2. Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India

    Arbind Patel

  3. Department of Geology, R L A College, Delhi University, New Delhi, India

    Jaya Rai & Prem Kumar

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  1. Pramod Kumar
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  2. Arbind Patel
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  3. Jaya Rai
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  4. Prem Kumar
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Contributions

Pramod Kumar: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Visualization, Writing- Original draft, Revision and Editing. Arbind Patel: For insight and Editing of the Manuscript. Jaya Rai: For insight and Editing of the Manuscript, the geology part, and revision. Prem Kumar: For Editing of the Manuscript, the geology part.

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Correspondence to Pramod Kumar.

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Footnotes

Final Report OUTMIGRATION FROM HILL REGION OF UTTARAKHAND: Magnitude, Challenges and Policy Options Rajendra P. Mamgain and D.N. Reddy (Sponsored by S. R. Sankaran Chair (Rural Labour), National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Rajendranagar Hyderabad – 500 030 http://www.nird.org.in.forest fire.pdf (nidm.gov.in) 2005–2006, 2006–2007.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9Jdpe8FMS0&feature=youtu.be (13 Aug. 2020).

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Uttarakhand_forest_fires.

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Dilip Singh Rathod, Dehradun, UPDATED: May 28, 2018 08:30 IST; https://www.indiatoday.in/mail-today/story/massive-forest-fire-in-uttarakhand-causes-damages-worth-lakhs-1243366-2018-05-28.

Santoshi, Neeraj, (2023) Mar 10, 04:43 PM IST. 54,800 hectares of forest cover destroyed by wildfires in Uttarakhand since 2000: https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/dehradun-news/54800-hectares-of-forest-cover-destroyed-by-wildfires-in-uttarakhand-since-2000-101678446801323.html.

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Kumar, P., Patel, A., Rai, J. et al. Environmental challenges and concurrent trend of weather extremes over Uttarakhand Himalaya. Theor Appl Climatol 155, 1217–1246 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-023-04690-z

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