An assessment of the impact of climate change on forest ecosystems in India has been attempted in this paper, based on climate projections of the Regional Climate Model of the Hadley Centre and the dynamic global vegetation model IBIS for A2 and B2 scenarios. A forest vulnerability index for India has also been worked out based on the dynamic global vegetation modelling and observed datasets of forest density, forest biodiversity as well as model predicted vegetation type shift estimates for forested grids.

Under elevated CO2 conditions a possibility of decomposition occurring more than net primary production leading to a loss of carbon is predicted in some forest regions. A micro level study undertaken in the small mountain range of Kolli, located in the Namakkal District of Tamil Nadu, points towards a enhanced need to measure carbon stock deterioration amidst the struggle to fend off anthropogenic disturbances.

Among the various transhumant tribes that inhabit the Himalaya, the Gaddi herders share a causal relationship with the deodar and chir forests. Guarded by ferocious dogs the sheep and goat owned or loaned by the herder, forage through ancestral tracks to reach the alpine meadows every summer. With the enactment of the Forest Rights Act in 2008, the lives of the Gaddi are slowly but surely changing for the better as historic injustice is being undone.

The mismatch between increasing demand and decline in water availability due to overexploitation and climate change is a critical issue for policy makers. Desalination, which is the conversion of seawater to potable water through various physical and chemical methods, has emerged as a potential solution to India’s looming water crisis. The most important concern however is cost effectivity of the methodology, type of energy used for desalination and sustainability of the plant.

With overexploitation of biodiversity it is pertinent to create an economic stake in conservation and in this context rights of the primary conservers for recognition and reward assume importance. The pathway to an era of biohappiness is rooted in the principles of ethics and equity in benefit sharing.

Environmental change is affecting food security, particularly for small farmers living on the margins. It is estimated that worldwide around 850 million people are chronically hungry and six million children presently die of hunger every year. Of the 800 million undernourished individuals worldwide, over 60 per cent are in Asia and 28 per cent in the African continent.

Adding a spatial component to the new integrated research will help to manage not only the resources on the earth but also the earth systems.

Dr Shailesh Nayak, Secretary Ministry of Earth Sciences and Chairman, Earth Commission.

An unprecedented rain event on 26-27 July 2005 at Mumbai motivated several research programmes on point-and-area-averaged extreme rainfalls to understand the association between atmospheric circulation and extreme rainfall.

Disaster Management in India has evolved over the years and today it encompasses both pre and post disaster phases to include aspects of prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, rehabilitation and reconstruction.