Climate Change Alleviation for Sustainable Progression: Floristic Prospects and Arboreal Avenues as a Viable Sequestration Tool

382 Pages·2022·18.58 MB·English

by  Moonisa Aslam Dervash, Akhlaq Amin Wani

Climate Change Alleviation
for Sustainable Progression
Floristic Prospects and Arboreal

Avenues as a Viable Sequestration Tool

Editors
Moonisa Aslam Dervash
Department of Environmental Science

Sri Pratap College, Cluster University Srinagar

Jammu and Kashmir, India

Akhlaq Amin Wani
Faculty of Forestry

Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology

Jammu & Kashmir, India

p,
A SCIENCE PUBLISHERS BOOK
First edition published 2023
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ISBN: 978-0-367-61887-2 (hbk)
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Dedicated to our noble teacher
Dr. Aziz Hajini
(07-03-1957 to 12-09-2021)
(Former Convenor Kashmiri Advisory Board, Sahitya Akademi New Delhi &
Ex. Secretary, Jammu & Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages)
He was born on 7th March, 1957 in Hajin
village of Bandipora, J&K, India. He was
a congenital intellectual who is born once
in a century. His immense contribution
in upliftment and preservation of our
rich heritage, art, culture, literature and
mother tongue is highly commendable.
Though physically he left this world but his mentorship will

linger to his mentees as a life long reminiscence.

May he rest in eternal peace, Aameen.

Foreword

Climate change is one of the most imperative
environmental concerns across the world.
Temperature escalation has now been explicitly
verified and continues at an unprecedented pace. The
apprehensions of global warming include retreat of
glacial resources, submergence of low-lying areas
and outbreak of various diseases, thus impacting the
existence of mankind, coupled with extermination
of flora and fauna which can lead to ecological
imbalance.
Greenhouse effect is the natural phenomenon
prevailing on Earth and which aids in optimising its average temperature. But the
alarming increase in concentration of greenhouse gases CO (carbon dioxide), CH
2 4
(methane), CFC’s (chlorofluorocarbons), NO (nitrous oxide) and water vapour
2
into the atmosphere causes enhanced greenhouse effect, which is responsible
for global warming. Among all the greenhouse gases, CO is accountable for
2
causing 55-60% of the total enhanced greenhouse effect. Thus, in order to curb
the catastrophic consequences of global warming, carbon sequestration is a
viable cost-effective tool to mitigate ever-growing concentration of CO from air.
2
Carbon sequestration is the absorption and long-term storage of atmospheric CO
2
by the vegetation.
This present book, titled Climate Change Alleviation for Sustainable Progression:
Floristic Prospects and Arboreal Avenues as a Viable Sequestration Tool is a collective
effort of the editors and chapter-authors to document the novel and sustainable
approach that can be practiced to alleviate global warming. The unique assortment
of 18 chapters has been presented in a very comprehensible manner, defining the
cost-effective, novel and advanced technologies available to confiscate the
atmospheric CO.
2
Chapter 1 deals with understanding of the physical attributes governing climate
on Earth. Chapter 2 unveils the fact-related challenges and future perspectives
of global warming and global cooling. Chapter 3 focuses on the impact of climate
change on watershed hydrology. Chapter 4 suggests the impact of climate change
on agricultural insect-pest proliferation. Chapter 5 discusses the impact of climate
change on economic and socio-political aspects of society including food scarcity and
migration. Chapter 6 addresses the case study of biodiversity and ecology of Caspian
Sea in consonance with climate change. ‘From Climate Change to Migration: The
Prospect in Iran’ has been discussed in Chapter 7. Chapter 8 brings forth to readers
vi Foreword
the various sources and sinks of anthropogenic greenhouse gases. Climate change can
cast its spell on various components of the environment; therefore, soil quality is no
exception. Thus, soil quality under climatic upheaval has been discussed in Chapter
9. Climate variability takes its toll over crop productivity; therefore, climate risk
management is the approach that will curb this problem and has been elaborated in
Chapter 10. Likewise, due importance is to be given to organic farming, soil carbon
sequestration and climate smart agriculture which are discussed in Chapter 11. On
the other hand, trees and forests are the natural gadgets that are viable options to
capture and store atmospheric CO on long-term basis and have been quite elaborately
2
discussed in Chapter 12. A sizeable portion of the book has been dedicated to climate
change and phonological variability, REDD+, clean development mechanism and
green business through carbon credits in Chapters 13, 14, 15 and 16, respectively.
Finally, novel strategies of avenue plantation and turfgrasses as a sequestration tool
have been discussed in Chapters 17 and 18, respectively.
I wholeheartedly extend my warm and sincere appreciation to the editors of this
book for bringing out this amazing and comprehensive volume on impacts of climate
change, strategies for climate change alleviation and carbon confiscation based on
novel research and literature. Academicians, industrialists, researchers, students,
agriculturists and farmer community shall find it as a comprehensive bind regarding
carbon sequestration and shall serve the varied needs of teaching and research.
Prof. (Dr.) G.A. Bhat
Centre of Research for Development
University of Kashmir
Main Campus Hazratbal, Srinagar
Jammu & Kashmir, India
Preface

Carbon is one of the most essential components of the biological world and the
associated environment (physical attributes). Since time immemorial, carbon has been
in the forefront of operating a varied array of functions, ranging from ‘cellular level
(e.g. precursor in metabolic processes) to ecosystem functioning (e.g. temperature
regulation via greenhouse effect)’. Greenhouse gases act as a circuit house to regulate
the temperature of Earth at an optimum of 15°C by trapping the infrared wavelengths.
If greenhouse gases were not present in the atmosphere, the temperature of Earth
would have been ranging in sub-zeroes (–18°C to –20°C). Besides, vegetation exploit
carbon as a building block from which all the floristic accessories flourish. Plants take
up the carbon from the air in the form of CO through photosynthesis, renovate it into
2
CHO products (carbohydrates) and eventually oxygen is extracted (via photolysis of
water), which is thrashed back into the atmosphere. In due course of CO take-up
2
as well as assimilation of carbohydrates and release of O, the carbon is said to be
2
sequestrated, resulting in optimising the average temperature. However, vegetation
can also emit CO through the process of respiration and deforestation as well as
2
through death and decay of trees. Therefore, the equilibrium of CO uptake or CO
2 2
evolution shall determine whether an area acts as a sink or a source of carbon. As
per data retrieved from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(2019), the present level of CO in atmosphere has crossed 403.64 ppm compared to
2
the concentration at the onset of the industrial revolution. The main proportion of CO
2
(i.e. 75%) stems from fossil fuel burning, whereas 25% is due to obliteration of tropical
rainforests. The intensification of CO is envisaged to cause significant alteration
2
in climatic conditions which eventually lead to climate change. Intergovernmental
Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) in 2018 revealed that anthropogenic activities are
estimated to have caused approximately 1.0°C of global warming above pre-industrial
levels, with a likely range of 0.8-1.2°C and is likely to reach 1.5°C during 2030-2052.
If escalation of GHGs (greenhouse gases) in atmosphere pacifies at the existing rate,
it will cause rise of global sea level by 0.26-0.77 m at the end of 21st century due
to the alleviation of polar ice, which would badly alter low-lying coastal countries,
existence of various plants and animals, agriculture industry and livelihood patterns
and eventually there would be outbreak of various diseases, like dengue, malaria, etc.
Consequently, the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, particularly
CO has amplified; therefore, the multiple mitigation measures to stabilise or reduce
2,
its concentrations needs to be addressed through a hierarchy of actions with most
important being bio-fixation of carbon as a part of a comprehensive strategy based
on the principle of removing much of CO from the atmosphere. The conventions
2
on climate change provide a mechanism by which a country, that emits carbon in
viii Preface
excess of agreed-upon limits, can purchase carbon offsets from a country or region
that manages carbon sinks through Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and thus
earn carbon credits, with one carbon credit being equal to 1 ton of CO. This is the
2
most effective way of revenue generation by stakeholders who provide carbon storage.
The types of afforestation and reforestation activities likely to be eligible under clean
development mechanism (CDM) and contract carbon markets include planting trees
on farmlands and raising mixed species, etc.
The present book is a thoughtful effort in bringing forth the role of vegetation in
carbon sequestration. The introductory chapters of the book deal with the understanding
of the physical attributes governing climate on Earth, historical account of climate
change, impacts of climate change and mitigation measures and eco-strategies to
combat climate change. Detailed account of the mechanism of carbon sources and
sinks, carbon credits and REDD+ are also discussed. A sizeable portion of the book
has been dedicated to carbon sequestration by vegetation and soil, climate change
and phonological variability, clean development mechanism and economic stability
through natural resource management.
Academicians, researchers and students shall find it as a comprehensive guide
regarding floristic and arboreal potential to sequester CO and shall adequately suffice
2
the requirements of training, teaching and research.
We are extremely grateful to the authors who have contributed the chapters in this
book. We express our immense gratitude to Science Publishers, Taylor and Francis
Group in general and our acquisitions editor in particular, for their cooperation and
publication of this book.
Dr. Moonisa Aslam Dervash
Dr. Akhlaq Amin Wani
Contents

Foreword v

Preface vii

1. Physical Drivers of Earth’s Climate 1

Abolfazl Jalali Shahrood and Abrar Yousuf
2. Global Warming or Global Cooling: Challenges and Future Prospects 13

Zagir Ataev
3. Global Climate Change Impacts on Watershed Hydrology 33

Vishnu Prasad, Abrar Yousuf and Parminder Singh Sandhu
4. Climate Change vis-à-vis Insect Pest Population 55

Malik Mukhtar, Asma Sherwani, Adhfur Sherwani, Khursheed Alam
and Moonisa Aslam Dervash
5. Impact of Climate Change on Economic and Sociopolitical Aspects 70

Abolfazl Jalali Shahrood, Moonisa Aslam Dervash,

Akhlaq Amin Wani and Mohammad Amin Bhat

6. Climate Change, Biodiversity and Ecology of Caspian Sea:

An Overview 78

Munir Ozturk, Volkan Altay and Liliya A. Dimeyeva
7. From Climate Change to Migration: The Prospects in Iran 95

Ali Bogheiry
8. Mechanism behind Sources and Sinks of Major Anthropogenic

Greenhouse Gases 114

Tariq Mehmood, Muhammad Azher Hassan, Xinghua Li,

Anam Ashraf, Sadia Rehman, Muhammad Bilal, Raphael M Obodo,

Beenish Mustafa, Mehak Shaz, Saira Bibi and Awais Shakoor

9. Soil Quality vis-à-vis Climatic Upheaval 151

Mohammad Amin Bhat, Abrar Yousuf and Parminder Singh Sandhu
10. Climate Risk Management vis-à-vis Crop Productivity under

Climatic Variability 182

Sukhjeet Kaur, Navneet Kaur, Abrar Yousuf, Jagdish Singh

and Parminder Singh Sandhu