Climate Change and Socio-Ecological Transformation in the Indian Sundarbans: A Study of the Drivers of Socio-Physical Disaster-Based Change
Kousik Das MALAKAR, Central University of Haryana, India
Gloria KUZUR, IGNOU, India
Supriya ROY, Visva-Bharati University, India
Climate Change and Socio-ecological Transformation are major concerns in today's developing countries such as India. Socio-ecological systems, in general, are systems that deal with biogeophysical nature and surroundings in specific ecosystems, as well as context problems, in a complex and adaptive manner, and they are integrated with societal and ecological institutions. However, climate change and variability in the modern era exacerbate the changes and dynamics between societal and ecological systems. There are various types of climate change drivers that have triggered and sustained the magnitude of socio-ecological transformation in the Indian Sundarban. The study field's specific problems are socio-environmental hazards and disasters related to climate change extreme events. Based on this context, we intend to assess the climate change drivers and socio-ecological transformations in a qualitative manner using recently published research.
The key result demonstrates the main two types of driver change that are involved in the socio-ecological transformation. Natural drivers identified include cyclones, flooding, erosion, sea-level rise, and salinization, while anthropogenic drivers include settlement expansion, agriculture, shrimp aquaculture, land-use changes, deforestation, loss of traditional values, global warming, loss of mangroves, and unplanned tourism, among others. Another finding is that variables in a regime shift that also contribute to drivers of change identified are hydrological and disaster-based, and comparatively longer time change variables are sea-level rise, erosion, and social changes. As a result, there is a need to manage and develop the potential for recovery, adaptive capacity, and resilience power.
Mots clés : Socio-ecological Transformation|Sundarban|Climate Change|Drivers of Change|Coastal Bengal
A102823KM