Climate change and its impacts

1. ASSIGNMENT WORK-2019
Course Title:
Urban Disaster Risk Mitigation & Climate
Resilient Development.
Course Instructor :
Prof. Dr. Sanjukkta Bhaduri
(School of Planning & Architecture, New
Delhi)
Name: Manoj
Qualification: Graduation: B.A & Currently
pursuing M.A in Geography
Name of Institute: Banaras Hindu University
Contact details: Mob: 8960974341
Email: manojkumar1995@gmail.com
Address: Vill. & Post Naipua Kalan (BHU), varanasi 221011

2. INTRODUCTION TO THE CITY
 Selected City: Varanasi (Benaras)
 Varanasi, or Benaras, (also known as Kashi) is one of the oldest living city in the world.
Varanasi’s prominence in the Hindu mythology is virtually unrevealed.
 Mark Twain, the England author and literature, who was enthralled by the legend and
sanctity of Benaras, once wrote: “Benaras is older than history, older than tradition, older
even than legend and looks twice as old as all of them put together.”
 Varanasi, the headquarter of a division and district in Uttar Pradesh lies in the heart of the
Middle Ganga Plain on the left bank of the river Ganges.
 People often refer to Varanasi as “the city of temples”, “the holy city of India”, “the
religious capital of India”, “the city of lights”, “the city of learning”, and “one of the
oldest living city on earth”.
 Varanasi enjoys the special advantage of its stable site protected from three sides:
 The river Ganga in the east.
 The river Varuna in the north and
 The Assi Nala in the south
But considerable area along the river Varuna and in the South of the city is low lying and
subjected to flooding sometimes of high magnitude.

3. HAZARDS
Hazards : A hazard is any object, situation, or behavior that has potential to cause injury, ill
health, or damage to property or the environment.
 In very simple words we can say that a hazards is damage or loss of life and properties
Some Examples of Hazards are
Physical hazards, Mechanical hazards, Chemical hazards, Biological hazards,
Ergonomic Hazards, Psychological hazards
Six indicators of measuring and analysis of Natural hazards.
•Magnitude.
•Speed of onset.
•Duration.
•Frequency.
•Areal extent.
•Areal reliability.

4. HAZARD IN VARANASI
 Like other regions, Varanasi also faces hazards in various intensity and with various types
 Hazards that are of significance in Varanasi are- Floods, Drought, and Earthquake.
 Varanasi faces above hazards in following years Drought in 2002, Floods in 2006, Earthquake in 2015
 Loss of life and property from these hazards are in terms of 2 crores annually
 Varanasi has been put in the seismic zone III just because it is close to the Himalayan foreland, but the
city has not received even a single crack in the building during the earthquake.
 Varanasi was among the 38 cities of the country under the Urban Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction
Project of UNDP

5. CLIMATE CHNAGES
 Meaning of Climate Change
 Climate change is all about change in temperature, precipitation, relative humidity, and wind speed
and wind movement pattern.
 According to NASA, Climate change is a change the typical or average weather of a region or city.
 Causes of climate change
 Natural causes :
 Orbital changes
 Volcanic eruption
 Variation in solar radiation
 Manmade causes :
 Deforestation
 Burning of fossil fuels
 Municipal waste, agricultural activities
 Waste and biomass burning
 Impact of climate change:
 Climate change can alter where species live and how they interact, which could fundamentally
transform current ecosystem.
 Impact on one species can ripple through the food web and affect the one organism in an ecosystem.

6. CLIMATE CHANGE IN VARANASI
 Temperature:
 Varanasi faces some times of climate changes like change in temperature,
precipitation, relative humidity, and wind speed and wind movement pattern.
 Climate of Varanasi vary from season to season but a huge change have been seen
since decades.
 The maximum temp. register a gradual fall through the month fall through the
month of December (26 Deg. C to 22 Deg. C)
 The minimum temp. have a similar march through the season falling from
about 11 Deg. C I the beginning of December to about 9 Deg. C by end of the
month
 They remain around that value till third week of January and then rise slowly
to about 10 deg. C till and of January. The minimum temp. reach to about 14
Deg. C by end of the season.

7. CLIMATE CHANGE IN VARANASI CONT….
 Extreme temperature
 The highest and lowest maximum temperature recorded during the season (1971-
2011)
 Relative Humidity
 The fig. shows sharp decline with gradual fall after till 1500hrs IST. It then tend
register a sharp increase reaching to 80-85 % by 2200 hours in the night.
 Rainfall
 Winter is not a rainy season for Varanasi. However the season is not completely
devoid of rainfall activity.
 The daily normal rainfall for each day (fig.) shows that the rainfall activity increases
as the season progresses.
Rainfall in Varanasi

8. FACTORS FOR HAZARDS AND CLIMATW
CHANGE IN VARANASI
 India ranks fourth (4th) in terms of economic disasters due to
natural disasters, about 79.5 Billion US Dollars have been
estimated to be the loss
 Our cities are at increased risk from disasters in terms of natural
disasters
 Various natural calamities also causes natural disasters
 Unplanned , Unmanaged Urban development as well as hazards
activity makes the city more vulnerable.
 In Varanasi Climate change majority aspects found is Drought
, Flood, and Earthquake.
 Drought is a natural hazard that has significant negative
impacts on the environment, agriculture and socioeconomic
conditions of the people. Drought is the manifestation of a
long spell of deficit in precipitation.

9. CONTINUED
What causes drought in Varanasi.
Lack of rainfall (or precipitation): Droughts can occur when there is the lack
of ‘expected’ precipitation (rain and snow).
Surface water flow : Some regions are also well distributed with surface water
(streams and rivers) that have their sources from far away mountains and
watersheds.
Human factors : Forests (trees) play a key role in the water cycle, as they help
reduce evaporation, store water and also contribute to atmospheric moisture in the
form of transpiration.
Global Warming :
Even though some people do not accept that the average temperature of the earth
has risen, it is on record that human actions have contributed to more greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere. As a result, there are warmer temperatures, often resulting
in more dryness and bush fires. These conditions also tend to speed up drought
conditions.

10. CONTINUED
 Factors contribute to Earthquake Hazards
 The type of hazard depends on the strength of seismic
activity, along with such factors as local topographic and
built features, subsurface geology and groundwater. A large
earthquake will always be followed by a sequence of
aftershocks.
 factors contribute to floods
 Rainfall is the most important factor in creating a flood, but
there are many other contributing factors. When rain falls
on a catchment, the amount of rainwater that reaches
the waterwaysdepends on the characteristics of the
catchment, particularly its size, shape and land use. Some
rainfall is 'captured' by soil and vegetation, and the
remainder enters waterways as flow.
Thank You