Chapter 5
Evaluating Adaptation Strategies to Coastal
Multihazards in Sundarban Biosphere
Reserve, India, Using Composite
Adaptation Index: A Household-Level
Analysis
Mehebub Sahana, Sufia Rehman, Shyamal Dutta, Samsad Parween,
Raihan Ahmed, and Haroon Sajjad
Abstract Coastal areas are experiencing greater risk because of the increased
frequency of multiple climate change-induced hazards. Thus, identification of suitable adaptation strategies for local communities has become imperative for lessening
the impact of climate change. Although a large number of studies have touched upon
the different components of vulnerability to coastal hazards, adaptation assessment
has remained underemphasized in the existing literature. This paper assesses adaptation strategies to multiple coastal hazards in Sundarban Biosphere Reserve (SBR),
India. We collected socioeconomic data and responses on adaptation strategies opted
for extreme climate events, economic activities, and coping mechanism from
570 households in the Reserve. Factor analysis was utilized to identify the significant
adaptation strategies opted by the sampled households. This analysis provided
14 significant adaptation strategies, explaining around 66% of the total variation
among 45 adaptation strategies pursued by the households. Correlation was
performed to establish the relationship between socioeconomic characteristics of
the households and adaptation strategies. A composite adaptation index was then
constructed using principal component analysis (PCA) to ascertain the level of
adaptation. Findings revealed very high adaptation in Kakdwip, Kultali, Sagar,
Patharpratima, Namkhana, and Gosaba blocks and a high degree of adaptation was
M. Sahana
School of Environment, Education & Development, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
S. Rehman · R. Ahmed · H. Sajjad (*)
Department of Geography, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
S. Dutta
Department of Geography, University of Burdwan, Bardhaman, West Bengal, India
S. Parween
Department of Geography, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. N. Islam, A. van Amstel (eds.), India: Climate Change Impacts, Mitigation
and Adaptation in Developing Countries, Springer Climate,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67865-4_5
99
Evaluating Adaptation Strategies to Coastal
Multihazards in Sundarban Biosphere
Reserve, India, Using Composite
Adaptation Index: A Household-Level
Analysis
Mehebub Sahana, Sufia Rehman, Shyamal Dutta, Samsad Parween,
Raihan Ahmed, and Haroon Sajjad
Abstract Coastal areas are experiencing greater risk because of the increased
frequency of multiple climate change-induced hazards. Thus, identification of suitable adaptation strategies for local communities has become imperative for lessening
the impact of climate change. Although a large number of studies have touched upon
the different components of vulnerability to coastal hazards, adaptation assessment
has remained underemphasized in the existing literature. This paper assesses adaptation strategies to multiple coastal hazards in Sundarban Biosphere Reserve (SBR),
India. We collected socioeconomic data and responses on adaptation strategies opted
for extreme climate events, economic activities, and coping mechanism from
570 households in the Reserve. Factor analysis was utilized to identify the significant
adaptation strategies opted by the sampled households. This analysis provided
14 significant adaptation strategies, explaining around 66% of the total variation
among 45 adaptation strategies pursued by the households. Correlation was
performed to establish the relationship between socioeconomic characteristics of
the households and adaptation strategies. A composite adaptation index was then
constructed using principal component analysis (PCA) to ascertain the level of
adaptation. Findings revealed very high adaptation in Kakdwip, Kultali, Sagar,
Patharpratima, Namkhana, and Gosaba blocks and a high degree of adaptation was
M. Sahana
School of Environment, Education & Development, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
S. Rehman · R. Ahmed · H. Sajjad (*)
Department of Geography, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
S. Dutta
Department of Geography, University of Burdwan, Bardhaman, West Bengal, India
S. Parween
Department of Geography, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. N. Islam, A. van Amstel (eds.), India: Climate Change Impacts, Mitigation
and Adaptation in Developing Countries, Springer Climate,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67865-4_5
99