Image by IPCC AR5, 2014
Risk of Climate Change can be conceptualized at the intersection of three components - Hazard, Exposure, and Vulnerability.
Risk = f(H,E,V), where H is the climatic hazard, E is the exposure to the hazard, and V is the inherent vulnerability of human and ecological systems
All State Climate Change Centers funded by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India are interested in developing a Risk Index for states. It requires building capacity for risk assessment and adaptation planning.
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Generation of data for risk assessment is important. There is need of a strategy for data generation for climate change risk and vulnerability assessment and adaptation planning.
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Hazard
"The potential occurrence of a natural or human-induced physical event or trend or physical impact that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts, as well as damage and loss to property, infrastructure, livelihoods, service provisions, ecosystems, and environmental resources"
Exposure
“The presence of people, livelihood, ecosystems, environmental functions, services and resources, infrastructure, cultural assets in places and settings that could be adversely affected”.
Vulnerability
“The propensity or predisposition to be adversely affected”. In other words, vulnerability can be defined as the degree to which a system cannot cope with the impacts of climate change, encompassing several biophysical, socio-economic, and institutional aspects. It represents the internal property of a system.