Vulnerability to Climate Change: A Sub-regional Analysis of Socio-economic and Agriculture Sectors in Karnataka, India

Abstract

Abstract Vulnerability assessments can play a vital role in the designing of appropriate adaptation and mitigation policies targeted towards climate change and its impacts on ecosystems, and for those who depend upon the sensitive resources for their livelihoods and well-being. Vulnerability is often reflected in the economic system as well as the socio-economic features of the population living in that system. This article attempts to build a picture of the socio-economic context of vulnerability by focusing on indicators that measure both the state of socio-economic development of the people as well as their capacity to progress further. The result of agricultural vulnerability index suggests indicators such as cropping intensity, gross irrigated area and commercial crop area are the major drivers in determining the vulnerability of the districts of Karnataka. The socio-economic and livelihood index depicts indicators like per capita income, population density and percentage of literacy rate are the major drivers and contribute to the overall livelihood vulnerability of districts.