• Because of 2.5 to 5°C rise in mean surface temperature, northern India will be warmer
• 20% rise in summer monsoon rainfall
• All states will have increased rainfall except Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, where it will decrease
• Drought and flood intensity will increase. Krishna, Narmada, Cauvery, Tapti river basins will experience severe water stress and drought condition and Mahanadi, Godavari, Brahmani will experience enhanced flood.
• Crop yield will decrease. Prediction of loss of wheat is more. Rabi crops will be worse hit, which threatens food security. Coastal agriculture suffers most in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka. Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh will face reduction in yield.
• Frequencies and intensities of tropical cyclones in Bay of Bengal will increase particularly in the post-monsoon period and flooding will increase in low-lying coastal areas. The recent IPCC report has projected a global mean sea level rise of 0.59 m by the end of the 21st century. In the absence of protection, the mean sea level rise itself can inundate a large portion of predominantly agricultural land on the coast, and the surviving coastline faces the threat of extreme storm surges.
• Malaria will continue to be endemic in current malaria prone States of Orissa, West Bengal and southern parts of Assam. It may shift from the central Indian region to the south-western coastal States of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala. New regions - Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram will become malaria prone.
• The UN panel report warns that glaciers across the Himalayas are melting at an alarming rate and may disappear altogether by 2035. One of the most iconic of Indian glaciers is the majestic Gangotri glacier in Uttarkashi District of Uttarakhand; is a major source of fresh water to the Ganga. In recent times, the 30 km-long glacier has shown considerable recession. Satellite data has shown that the rate of retreat in the last three decades has been more than three times the rate during the earlier 200 years or so.
• In the fast few decades, continuous impact on the environmental landscape particularly in the Himalayas in the form of land-use practices such as water diversions; deforestation, agriculture and industrialisation etc. have caused large scale impacts on the watersheds of the region. Global warming will further accelerate the adverse impacts on these regions.
• The cities of Chennai, Mumbai are in the list of cities to be affected (immersed in the sea) by global warming. India is in fact one of the 27 countries identified by the UNEP as being most vulnerable to sea level rise.
• The world famous Kashmir Dal Lake, which was once in 30 sq. km., has now shrunk to half.
• In the event of any environmental disaster, it has been our experience corroborated by the tsunami of December 2004 that hit the Indian coastline, that the weaker and marginalised sections of the society are the worst hit. First of all the coastal community, comprising of fisherfolks, agrarian communities and others will be the most affected followed by those living in high ranges. Due to climate change, women, children, the aged, Dalits, and indigenous communities will be the ones severely affected.

With impacts of these magnitudes being experienced not only in India but in many parts of the world, it is imperative to review current mechanisms of mitigation and adaptation, and adopt more viable options that prioritise concerns of affected peoples and changing ecological landscapes over all other considerations economic and so on. It is a question of the very existence and survival of humans and other living organisms, which is threatened by climate change. Climate change should be addressed by weighing existence against unrestrained development.