Macro-level study on Climate Change effects on agriculture and human health in Western Himalayas: A Review

Abstract

The current study reveals that the western Himalayas has a fragile ecosystem, highly susceptible to rapid changes in land morphology due to the consequences of climate change. Land-use and climatic change in this region has negative impacts on agriculture and human health. Increasing temperature, erratic precipitation, and rising CO2 concentrations are the main drivers which show adverse effects on agriculture and human health. The impacts trends in this region can be categorised into exacerbated pathogenicity are pathogens, and hence disease outbreaks, changes in the traditional agriculture techniques, and people’s migration that directly changes in ecological and leading to social inequalities. In the last few decades, there have been changes in vector species distribution in agriculture and increases of forest pest species attacks by climate change in agriculture and forest pest increases, and parasites are emerging during periods of these last few decades. Enhancement of seasonal transmission and distribution of pests pushes food insecurity and vector-borne infections deteriorate human health. This review article tries to analyse different literature on the effects of climate change on agriculture and human health in the Western Himalayas and suggest agroforestry and agroecology is some of the strategies to overcome climate change impact.