Climate change threatens India’s economy, food security: IPCC

By Nita Bhalla NEW DELHI, March 31 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – India’s high vulnerability and exposure to climate change will slow its economic growth, impact health and development, make poverty reduction more difficult and erode food security, a new report by scientists said on Monday. The latest report from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stresses the risks of global warming and tries to make a stronger case for governments to adopt policy on adaptation and cut greenhouse gas emissions. “This is the most extensive piece of science done on climate adaptation up until now,” Aromar Revi, one of the lead authors of the report, told a news conference. “The key issue as far as India is concerned is vulnerability and exposure.” The report predicts a rise in global temperatures of between 0.3 and 4.8 degrees Celsius (0.5 to 8.6 Fahrenheit) and a rise of up to 82 cm (32 inches) in sea levels by the late 21st century due to melting ice and expansion of water as it warms, threatening coastal cities from Shanghai to San Francisco.