85% of Indian survey respondents already experiencing effects of climate change
The climate crisis has turned into potentially the greatest crises of all time, elevating global average temperatures, intensifying storms and droughts, and putting millions of lives at risk. Climate migration is no longer a non-prominent term.
The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and CVoter carried a survey of 2,178 adults in India from September to November 2023, arriving at heartbreaking results. Survey respondents expressed serious concerns over the unfolding situation.
85% of the people surveyed in India say they are already experiencing the effects of climate change, and more than a third of them have either already changed places or considered changing because of extreme natural events such as severe heat, droughts and floods.
India among nations most vulnerable to climate impacts
91% of respondents revealed their concerns over global heating. It comes as a sizeable portion of the country has been struggling amid extreme temperature rises. A number of states have reported daily maximum temperatures surpassing immensely concerning levels.
38% of the people surveyed said they had to go without enough clean drinking water for at least a day in the past year, besides 72% experiencing electricity disruptions on a typical day and 34% already moved or considered moving because of extreme events.
The survey also found that more than 70% of people in India think global heating influences atmospheric conditions in their local areas and monsoons but just 64% reported receiving warnings ahead of an extreme natural disaster.
Natural disasters triggering 500,000 internal displacements
86% of the respondents favour India’s commitment to meeting net zero carbon emissions by 2070, 78% believe the government should be putting more efforts to address global heating, and only 14% think the country should expand the use of fossil fuels.
Severe temperature rises have been impacting a large number of people in different parts of India for three consecutive years, affecting health, electricity generation, agriculture, availability of basic natural resources and other sectors of the economy.
In fact, the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre recently noted in a report that natural disasters triggered more than half a million internal displacements in the populated country in 2023 and around 2.5 million in the year before.
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