Climate change in Madhya Pradesh: a compendium of Expert Views-II

Madhya Pradesh second largest Indian province has enough reasons to be concerned about the impacts of climate change as it has a large population depending on its natural resources for livelihood. The state has agrarian economy with agriculture as the mainstay of livelihood for about 45 million people which constitutes two third of the population which Observed climate trend analysis for Madhya Pradesh, carried out as part of the preparations for MP State Action Plan on Climate Change and Vulnerability and Risk Assessment of MP towards Climate Change, indicates uneven trend of rainfall in most parts of the state. The study carried out by IITM Pune using the HADCM3 simulations downscaled with PRECIS indicate an all-round warming over the Indian subcontinent associated with increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. Both maximum and minimum temperatures are projected to rise significantly under the PRECIS A1B scenario. Rainfall is also projected to increase under this scenario.