The Impact of Climate Change on Small Ruminant Performance in Caribbean Communities

Many Caribbean small ruminant management systems are forage-based, relying on rain to sustain pastures for feed. Animal performance is thus heavily dependent on forage availability. The nutritive value of pasture was highest during the intermediate season and lowest during the dry season, leading to under nutrition, and declined flock performance in the dry season. Climate change will therefore seriously hamper pasture availability and nutritive value. Hair sheep on pasture, without shade or water, experienced increased respiration rate, they were under chronic heat stress. However, where adequate shade and water were provided, heat stress was reduced. The current system of small ruminant production is prone to the negative impacts of climate change events due to its effect on nutrition, growth and reproduction. Immediate actions are needed to prepare farmers to respond by mitigation methods, to maintain and enhance animal productivity if the envisaged protein security goals set for this sector are to be realized.

Climate Change

Global aquaculture is one of the key features of present global agro-food systems. Though aquaculture is one of the fastest growing industries in the world, its growth trajectory is confronted with various challenges including climate disruptions. Since both aquaculture and climate change have regional variations, their interconnections are very complex and require systematic investigation. In various regions of the world, especially in the Global South, aquaculture countries are assessing those interconnections and devising resilience-enhancing programs for the development of the sector. Thorough investigations are required for a comprehensive understanding of the complex interconnections between climate vulnerability and resilience of global aquaculture. Drawing on primary and secondary data from the Bangladesh shrimp sector, and using conceptual lenses of global climate change and resilience, this chapter critically examines how the industrial shrimp aquaculture in Bangladesh is affected by climate disruptions and how the shrimp farming communities address these challenges.

Vulnerability of the Lakshadweep Coral Islands in India and Strategies for Mitigating Climate Change Impacts

Strategies for mitigating climate change impact on the vulnerable Lakshadweep coral islands have been drawn up in accordance with the principles, guidelines and strategies laid down in the Indian National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). The region most vulnerable to inundation from accelerated sea level rise (at least 40 cm by 2100) is the Lakshadweep archipelago. The first section of the chapter reviews the origin and geophysical features, climate profile, sectoral impact of climate change and vulnerabilities of Lakshdweep. The second section deals with climate change strategies and their adaptation, recommending appropriate actions for coping strategies to be adopted by local communities to be resilient against the adverse impacts of climate change. The third section outlines the Lakshadweep Action Plan for Climate Change (LAPCC) and the fourth section describes integrating LAPCC within the NAPCC, successes and challenges ahead. For small islands it is a notable case study to emulate, mitigating the effects of climate change while not deviating from development goals.

Mini Livestock Ranching

The rising demand and cost of animal protein, food and feed insecurity, environmental and climatic challenges of livestock agriculture have made the option of insects as food sources a viable topic. This chapter presents existing information and research on edible insects, insect farms and value-added insect products and assesses insects as a potential source of food and feed. Mini livestock ranching where edible insect species are reared, can reduce some of the negative environmental effects of livestock agriculture as it will produce significantly less greenhouse gas emissions compared with traditional livestock and have similar nutritional profiles. Edible insect species also; have a much lower feed to meat ratio, require small areas of land and have an almost negligible water requirement. There is an untapped potential to increase access to this nutritious, climate-smart food via intensified semi-cultivation and raising insects in farming environments, developing value added products and also a potential for a significant source of income.

Climate Change Impacts on Surface Water Quality

Climate change affects water resources through changes in evaporation, groundwater recharge, temperature, runoff and rainfall. Such changes affect the mobilization of nutrients, distribution and mobility of pollutants in freshwater systems. The direct and indirect climate change impacts on water quality comprise biological, physical and chemical changes. Biological changes include pathogenic microbes in water. Physical changes include increased water temperature, reduced river and lake ice cover, more stable vertical stratification and less mixing of water of deep-water lakes, and changes in water discharge, affecting water level and retention time. Chemical changes include increased nutrient concentrations, water color and decreased oxygen content. However, few scientific works have been recently published on the impacts of climate change on water quality modification. This chapter fills a real gap because there has been no comprehensive review on climate change and river water quality to date. It focuses on the expected water quality impacts of climate change.

Sustainable Land Use and Watershed Management in Response to Climate Change Impacts

The Srepok river basin (28,600km2) is located in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. There are many critical issues for soil and water resource management in the basin. Therefore, to make suitable adaptation plans, decision makers need to understand the extent of the potential impact of both climate change and human activity on local soil and water resources. The objective of this chapter was to investigate changes in stream flow, sediment load, and hydrological processes resulting from land use change and climatic variation. Plausible scenarios of land use change developed in a GIS environment based on current conditions, information from the area, and climate change scenarios were built on outputs of GCMs from the SEA-START. These changes were then inputted into SWAT model to project future hydrological variables. Results demonstrated that stream flow was predominant, followed by evapotranspiration. Groundwater was more predominant than surface water. This has been one of the best outstanding advantages in the Srepok watershed.

Impact of Climate Change on a Key Agricultural Pest

The world population is expected to exceed 9 billion by 2050 and most of this growth will occur in developing countries. As population increases, more arable lands will be used to construct cities and these activities increase CO2 in the atmosphere and contribute to climate change. Climate assessments have shown rising sea levels and increase in the frequency of droughts in many dry areas. Prolonged droughts can decrease the relative amounts of water available for human consumption and agriculture. In developing countries agriculture contributes to more than 15% of GDP and when crops and livestock are deprived of water they become more susceptible to pests and diseases. As climate change continues to occur there is a need to develop strategies to manage key invasive pest and disease species that threaten agricultural production. Thrips are major agricultural pests with the majority of species in tropical regions. They are cosmopolitan in nature and damage crops when they feed and lay eggs in many parts of the plant. Thrips are also vectors for spreading plant diseases. They disperse quickly into new areas where susceptible hosts exist. This chapter focuses on a few important thrips species that threatens agricultural production in the Americas including Central and South America and the Caribbean. The chapter discusses the ecology and pest management strategies for key invasive thrips species and examines the potential effects of climate change on these troublesome species.

Indian National Strategy for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation

India is a growing economy and has to sustain its economic growth, despite challenges of climate change. India's vision is to create a prosperous, self-sustaining economy, mindful of responsibilities to both present and future generations. It is committed to engage in multilateral negotiations in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in a positive, constructive and forward looking manner. India needed to formulate a national strategy to adapt to climate change and to further enhance the ecological sustainability of its development path based on its unique resource endowments, overriding priority of economic and social development and poverty eradication. This chapter explains the principles on which the National Action Plan on Climate Change is based, the approach adopted and provides details of eight missions, which form the core of the National Action Plan. The status of actions taken on each of the eight missions and other initiatives and the way forward has also been elaborated.

Modelling the Frequency of Tropical Cyclones in the Lower Caribbean Region

Modelling the frequency of occurrence of tropical cyclones is an important step in assessing risk with a view toward mitigating their adverse impacts The Poisson model was evaluated for modelling the frequency of tropical cyclones over and around Trinidad and Tobago's area of influence by statistically analysing a data series extracted from the Atlantic HURDAT2 count time series data for the period 1851 to 2014. This was tested for serial correlation and the residuals of a Poisson regression analysis. Both tests failed to detect the presence of trends or cycles thereby indicating that the data series is random. The Poisson model was subsequently fitted to the data. It was concluded that there has been no increasing trend in the frequency of tropical cyclones. Therefore, widespread claims of an increasing trend in the frequency of tropical cyclones in Trinidad and Tobago's area of influence have no valid empirical basis. The Poisson model is recommended for estimating the probabilities of occurrence of tropical cyclones.

Zero Tillage for Mitigating Global Warming Consequences and Improving Livelihoods in South Asia

Declining land and water productivity, rising global temperature, underground water availability, energy, labour availability, increasing cost of production, burning of crop residues and changing climatic conditions are major challenges faced by both scientists and farmers in South Asia. To address these challenges, different resource conservation technologies were promoted in the South Asia. Zero tillage was generally practiced in the region, which retains the previous crop residues on the soil surface while establishing main crop viz. wheat seeds directly drilled in standing anchored rice straw. Further such tillage systems required no pre-sowing irrigation which further improves the irrigation water productivity. The current chapter reviews the consequences of zero tillage on soil physical, chemical and biological properties, land and water productivity and in mitigating global warming potential in texturally divergent soils under different agro-climatic regions. Our review revealed that positive effects of zero tillage are visible only after 4-5 years up to which farmer might have to sacrifice some yields. Thus, there is need to recommend an integrated climate smart agriculture package/approach, which effectively solves weed pressure problems, helps in improving land and water productivity, mitigates global warming consequences and uplifts livelihoods in South Asia.