☀️🌧️ Climate Change and Disasters

Climate change intensifies disaster risk by shifting hazard patterns, increasing event frequency and severity, and undermining social-ecological resilience across regions worldwide.

Impact on Disaster Frequency and Intensity

Global warming amplifies the frequency and intensity of extreme events—floods, cyclones, heatwaves and heavy precipitation—raising disaster risk for vulnerable populations.

Climate change acts as a risk multiplier. Rising atmospheric temperatures increase moisture availability and energy in the climate system, altering rainfall patterns, intensifying storms, and lengthening heatwave seasons. The IPCC AR6 synthesis report documents that human-induced warming has unequivocally increased the frequency and/or intensity of many types of extreme events, and that these trends will continue unless emissions are sharply reduced. This scientific consensus underpins modern disaster management, which must now anticipate more frequent compound hazards (e.g., heat + drought, cyclone + storm surge) and shifting seasonal windows for risk.

Disaster management therefore requires moving from a primarily reactive posture (response and relief) to anticipatory action—early warnings, seasonal forecasts, pre-positioning of resources, and adaptive planning for infrastructure and livelihoods. Recent national statistics show a marked increase in fatalities and losses from extreme weather in India over recent decades, underscoring the urgency of integrating climate science into DRR planning.

Example: Analyses of global climate data and regional events reveal clear increases in extreme precipitation and heat extremes — a trend reflected in India’s record heatwave days in 2024 and the spike in extreme weather fatalities, linking climate change to real increases in disaster outcomes.

Sea-Level Rise & Coastal Vulnerability

Rising sea levels increase coastal inundation, erosion, salinization and storm surge risk—displacing communities and threatening infrastructure along low-lying shores.

Sea-level rise (SLR), driven by thermal expansion and melting ice, is a slow-onset hazard with long-term implications for coastal disaster risk. It increases baseline water levels so that storms and high tides produce more frequent and severe coastal flooding and erosion. Low-lying megadeltas, small island states, and densely populated coastal cities are especially vulnerable. For disaster management, SLR means planning for managed retreat, elevated and resilient infrastructure, coastal ecosystem restoration (mangroves, wetlands), and protection of freshwater sources from salinization. Recent Indian assessments map increasing coastal vulnerability and project zones of high exposure requiring prioritized adaptation.

Governance responses combine hard engineering (sea walls, breakwaters) with nature-based solutions (mangrove restoration) and policy instruments (zoning, relocation incentives). Equally important is the social dimension: livelihoods, property rights, and cultural ties complicate relocation decisions and require participatory planning.

Example: National coastal assessments show rising erosion and increased exposure along many Indian coasts (e.g., Sundarbans, parts of Gujarat and Andhra), prompting vulnerability mapping under the Deep Ocean Mission and state resilience plans. These maps guide local DRR investments and coastal restoration.

Heatwaves, Droughts, Extreme Weather Events

Warming raises frequency and duration of heatwaves, increases drought risk, and alters monsoon dynamics—escalating human health, agriculture, and water security crises.

Heatwaves are among the deadliest climate hazards, with mortality rising sharply in vulnerable populations (elderly, outdoor workers, those without cooling access). India recorded unprecedented heatwave days in 2024, and public health and labour protections have been stressed accordingly. Drought frequency and severity are influenced by shifting precipitation patterns and increasing evaporative demand, threatening agriculture and water storage. Meanwhile, the monsoon’s changing variability increases flash floods and landslide risk in hill states. Disaster preparedness must therefore incorporate heat action plans, drought contingency planning, water-smart agriculture, and landscape restoration.

Effective risk reduction for extreme heat includes early warning, heat-health action plans, workplace regulations for outdoor labour, and urban cooling measures. For droughts, water governance reforms, recharge of aquifers, and insurance mechanisms are critical. Capacity building at local governance levels (panchayats, municipalities) enhances timely implementation.

Example: The prolonged heat stress across India in 2024 resulted in record heatwave days and triggered renewed calls for robust heat-health action plans and worker protections; research and national advisories highlighted the need for early warnings and urban heat mitigation.

Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies

Adaptation reduces vulnerability to inevitable climate impacts; mitigation limits future warming—both are essential and must be pursued together across sectors.

Mitigation (cutting greenhouse gas emissions) and adaptation (building resilience to current and projected impacts) are complementary. Effective climate-disaster strategies require sectoral integration: climate-smart agriculture, resilient infrastructure design, nature-based solutions (mangroves, wetlands), and social protection that cushions shocks. Disaster risk financing (contingency funds, catastrophe bonds, insurance) allows quicker recovery. Locally led adaptation—community water harvesting, crop diversification, flood-resilient housing—must be scaled with technical support and finance. Urban planning should enforce hazard-sensitive building codes and invest in cooling, drainage and emergency shelters. Finally, monitoring and evaluation using climate projections ensure policies remain dynamic and evidence-based.

Climate mitigation is also a disaster risk reduction measure: limiting warming reduces the likelihood of the most severe future extremes. Thus national policy must balance near-term resilience with long-term emission pathways.

Example: Post-Fani reconstruction in Odisha combined resilient housing, plantation of coastal vegetation, and strengthened early warning and evacuation routes—an example of integrated adaptation and DRR measures.

International Cooperation in Climate Adaptation

Global cooperation—finance, technology transfer, capacity building and shared warning systems—is crucial to support vulnerable nations in adapting to climate-driven disasters.

Climate adaptation transcends borders: sea-level rise affects neighbouring countries; river basins and monsoon shifts have transboundary implications. International mechanisms under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Paris Agreement, Green Climate Fund, and Sendai Framework financing channels support adaptation projects, early warning systems, and capacity building. Technology transfer (early warning tech, climate-resilient seeds, desalination) and finance for loss and damage are central to equitable adaptation. For heavily affected developing countries, international funding and accessible technology are key to implementing national DRR strategies and protecting communities.

Regional cooperation—shared meteorological data, joint flood forecasting, and coordinated coastal management—improves preparedness. International scientific cooperation (IPCC, WMO) ensures decision-makers have robust climate projections and risk assessments.

Example: Global scientific assessments (IPCC AR6, 2023) provided the evidence base prompting increased international climate adaptation funding and technical partnerships, which supported several national DRR updates and early warning enhancements.

Operational Implications for Disaster Management

Integrating climate science into disaster management requires institutional shifts:

• Forecast-to-action: translate seasonal and climate forecasts into anticipatory operations (pre-positioning supplies, planned evacuations).
• Multi-hazard approach: prepare for compound events (e.g., heatwave followed by drought) rather than single hazards.
• Nature-based solutions: restore ecosystems to buffer hazards (mangroves, wetlands, urban green cover).
• Social protection integration: link cash transfers, insurance and public works to shock response for rapid recovery.
• Data and monitoring: invest in observation networks, satellite monitoring, and local reporting to drive early warning and impact assessment.

Recent government and research reports show increased investment in observation systems, local capacity building, and vulnerability mapping—measures that operationalize climate-aware DRR.

Example: The Wayanad landslides (July 30, 2024) in Kerala—caused by extreme rainfall—highlighted the need for slope management, land-use regulation, better weather forecasting dissemination, and the integration of climate risk into local planning. Post-event inquiries emphasized improving early warning communication to remote hill communities.

Social Equity, Vulnerability and Justice

Climate impacts are unequal: the poor, marginalised castes and tribes, coastal fisher communities, informal workers, and smallholder farmers bear disproportionate burdens. Disaster losses deepen poverty and can lead to permanent livelihood losses, migration, and social dislocation. DRR that ignores equity can worsen injustice—thus, adaptation financing and planning must prioritize the most vulnerable with targeted social protection, legal safeguards, and participatory decision-making. This aligns with both humanitarian principles and sustainable development goals.

Example: Reports on increasing climate-related internal displacement in South Asia note that millions in low-lying and delta areas are at risk; policies now prioritize in-situ resilience and planned relocation frameworks with livelihood support.

Conclusion

Climate change fundamentally alters the disaster risk landscape—raising event frequency and intensity, accelerating sea-level rise and coastal threats, and expanding heatwave and drought hazards. Disaster management must pivot to climate-informed DRR: combining early warnings, resilient infrastructure, nature-based solutions, social protection, and anticipatory financing.

International cooperation, based on scientific evidence (IPCC AR6), and local community engagement are both indispensable. Recent events—from record heatwave days to Kerala’s catastrophic landslides—underscore the urgency: sustainable, equitable adaptation and decisive mitigation are essential to protect lives, livelihoods, and development gains.