Climate Change: The Social and Scientific Construct

Beginning in the second half of the twentieth century, the impacts of  climate change have been fierce, causing loss of human life and  irreparable destruction to natural and man-made infrastructure in many  parts of the world.

The difference between climate change now and  in the past is that of sudden and disproportionate disruption of the  natural energy dynamics by the changing consumption patterns of billions  of human beings who have polluted terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.  The picture that emerges from the exhaustive analysis of international  data drawn from the most reliable sources indicates that we have  possibly gained access to the gateway of extinction and it is time that  we take corrective steps immediately.

Global climate change is  further altering our relationship with the environment, modifying  relatively stable climatic factors and making them uncertain,  unpredictable, and threatening. Changes in land use and an increasing  demand for water resources due to climate change have affected the  capacity of ecosystems to sustain food production, ensure the supply of  freshwater resources, provide ecosystem services, and promote rural  multi-functionality. Ensuring food production does not just depend on  increasing water efficiency, promoting climate resilient crop  production, or reducing land-use competition for urbanization but also  on a more suitable and stable climate as the changes in climatic factors  like precipitation, temperature, radiation, evaporation, and wind bring  about some major shifts in global food supplies.

According to  Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES), focused on greenhouse gas  emissions projections, and Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs)  conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),  climate change increases the risk of simultaneous crop failures  (including corn, rice, legumes, and vegetables) if irrigation systems  are not fully adapted to water stress situations. A changing climate  could have many adverse impacts on other sectors of our environment.

This  book offers concrete, up-to-date, and appropriate study cum research  material for students, researchers, academicians and policymakers. It  will be of a greater interest to students and researchers in the field  of environmental science, agriculture science, agronomy, and sustainable  development.