An Assessment of Climate Change-Natural Disaster Linkage in Indian Context

Natural disasters and climate change are fast emerging as the most defining challenges of the 21st century. India`s unique geo-climatic condition makes it highly susceptible to climate change and natural disasters. The country has observed significant anomaly in natural variability of temperature and rainfall patterns and has experienced more frequent and lethal disasters in recent decades. Almost unanimous but uneven temperature rise over the Indian subcontinent has propelled more energy in regional and local climate systems, and thus, has magnified climate anomalies and frequency as well as severity of natural disasters. The paper investigates the climate change and natural disasters propensities and highlights the climate change-disaster linkage in Indian context. It also identifies vulnerable areas and suggests some policy measures which may be of great help in reducing the impact of these catastrophes on society.