2 Defining Vulnerability to Climate Change
The IPCC defines vulnerability as the degree to which a system is susceptible to, and
unable to cope with the adverse effects of climate change, including climate variability
and extremes like drought, flood, cyclones and heat waves (IPCC 2007). Vulnerability
encompasses three main aspects in terms of exposure, susceptibility and adaptive
capacity (IPCC 2007). Exposure means the presence of people, environmental services
and resources, infrastructure, or economic, social and cultural assets in places that
could be adversely affected (Aleksandrova et al. 2014); susceptibility is the predisposition of a system to be negatively affected by climate variability or natural disaster
(Birkmann et al. 2013) whereas adaptive capacity is the system’s ability to absorb or
recover from the effects of a hazardous event (IPCC 2012).
Vulnerability to climate change and climate extremes varies in time and space
dimensions and is differed across groups and individuals (Maru et al. 2014). There
is sufficient divergence between the extent of vulnerability in developed and
developing nations. Developing countries are relatively more vulnerable to climatic
vagaries mainly due to their weak coping (adaptive) capacity and unclear institutional frameworks (Yohe and Tol 2002). Other possible reasons for their increased
vulnerability are: (i) relatively greater physical impacts given low level of preparedness and ad hoc nature of mitigation measures; (ii) heavy dependence of the
majority of population on natural resources and primary production for livelihood
and hence excessive exploitation leading to their degradation; and (iii) limited
economic and technological capacity thus hindering adaptation process to rapidly
changing climatic conditions (Gray and Mueller 2012).
Rapid changes in climate as well as the increased frequency and severity of
natural disasters in several countries have caused a remarkable proportion of world
population to suffer drastically (Leiserowitz et al. 2012). As a result, many development practitioners and climate change experts have extensively focussed the
issue of vulnerability assessment and associated dimensions in order to come up
with evidence-based solution particularly for developing world (Bardsley and
Wiseman 2012). This assessment is highly relevant as it covers various domains
and magnitudes of climate change and natural disasters on almost all aspects of
households (Hahn et al. 2009).
3 Problem Statement
The vulnerability of different sectors towards climate change and natural disasters
has serious implications for households and their livelihoods along with adverse
effects on the economic and social development of the economy of human society
(Calzadilla et al. 2013). The increased frequency and severity of such disasters have
even disproportionate impacts on the resource dependent masses in the resource
starved developing countries (Stern 2007). When faced with such a situation,
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The IPCC defines vulnerability as the degree to which a system is susceptible to, and
unable to cope with the adverse effects of climate change, including climate variability
and extremes like drought, flood, cyclones and heat waves (IPCC 2007). Vulnerability
encompasses three main aspects in terms of exposure, susceptibility and adaptive
capacity (IPCC 2007). Exposure means the presence of people, environmental services
and resources, infrastructure, or economic, social and cultural assets in places that
could be adversely affected (Aleksandrova et al. 2014); susceptibility is the predisposition of a system to be negatively affected by climate variability or natural disaster
(Birkmann et al. 2013) whereas adaptive capacity is the system’s ability to absorb or
recover from the effects of a hazardous event (IPCC 2012).
Vulnerability to climate change and climate extremes varies in time and space
dimensions and is differed across groups and individuals (Maru et al. 2014). There
is sufficient divergence between the extent of vulnerability in developed and
developing nations. Developing countries are relatively more vulnerable to climatic
vagaries mainly due to their weak coping (adaptive) capacity and unclear institutional frameworks (Yohe and Tol 2002). Other possible reasons for their increased
vulnerability are: (i) relatively greater physical impacts given low level of preparedness and ad hoc nature of mitigation measures; (ii) heavy dependence of the
majority of population on natural resources and primary production for livelihood
and hence excessive exploitation leading to their degradation; and (iii) limited
economic and technological capacity thus hindering adaptation process to rapidly
changing climatic conditions (Gray and Mueller 2012).
Rapid changes in climate as well as the increased frequency and severity of
natural disasters in several countries have caused a remarkable proportion of world
population to suffer drastically (Leiserowitz et al. 2012). As a result, many development practitioners and climate change experts have extensively focussed the
issue of vulnerability assessment and associated dimensions in order to come up
with evidence-based solution particularly for developing world (Bardsley and
Wiseman 2012). This assessment is highly relevant as it covers various domains
and magnitudes of climate change and natural disasters on almost all aspects of
households (Hahn et al. 2009).
3 Problem Statement
The vulnerability of different sectors towards climate change and natural disasters
has serious implications for households and their livelihoods along with adverse
effects on the economic and social development of the economy of human society
(Calzadilla et al. 2013). The increased frequency and severity of such disasters have
even disproportionate impacts on the resource dependent masses in the resource
starved developing countries (Stern 2007). When faced with such a situation,
Analysing Vulnerability to Climate Change in India …
411