Climate Crisis, Social Responses and Sustainability: Socio-Ecological Study on Global Perspectives

This proposed book aims to present an analysis of several crisis issues induced by global climate changes and implications at the micro-level, particularly from the perspective of ground-based study. Climate crisis leads to several socio-ecological issues which need to discuss with some empirical case studies from the contextual global evidences. Climatic crisis generates several social responses which are associated with mitigating issues in addition to sustainable development goals. Under these circumstances, several loopholes interlinked with climatic crisis need to expose in the present-day context. This book argues that it is important to understand the issues from multiple dimensions. It identifies some important dimensions to discuss in the process. Themes we purpose to cover are: several field-based studies are included for which micro-level field-based data would incorporate to understand current crisis induced by climate change, thus exposing the vulnerabilities of the communities which would be incorporated in different chapters with adequate representation of qualitative methods, modelling-based geospatial approach. Therefore, some secondary data-based studies have also been included to provide a broader picture.

Additionally, this book aims to provide an interdisciplinary understanding of the issues mainly from the lenses of Geography, Economics, and Sociology as well as Environmental Studies too. Given the focus of this study, it is believed that an approach that harmonizes the cognitive domain from different discipline is appropriated. A combination of chapters using qualitative as well as quantitative methods also made this book exclusive from others. We believe that this edited book surely contributes the knowledge domain with some relevant chapters’ discussion in the contemporary time and leads to reduce the gap of knowledge.

Dr Uttam Mukhopadhyay is Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Geography (undergraduate and postgraduate) at Vidyasagar College, University of Calcutta. He is also Director of the Research Centre of Vidyasagar College, Kolkata. He is associated with college teaching for the last 37 years. He has taught at City College of Commerce, Gokhale Memorial Girls’ College, and Presidency College, and at present, he is teaching at Vidyasagar College where he has completed 26 successful years. Before venturing into college teaching, he initially started his career as Planner in the Planning Department of KMDA. Dr Mukhopadhyay has simultaneously contributed largely to the social field and is associated with a great deal of charity work. His writing and views as Social Expert on various aspects of life, society, and education are highly valued and published in different newspapers, leading TV channels, articles, and journals from time to time. He is also associated with a lot of research work where his research papers get accepted in various national and international journals. He has successfully completed several prestigious government-funded projects from various social and economic perspectives. The majority of his work involve tribal society, environment, urban planning, and resource potentiality. Apart from all this, he has authored numerous textbooks at the school and college levels.

Dr Subhasis Bhattacharya completed his master’s in Economics from Calcutta University and doctoral degree from University of North Bengal. He has 23 years of academic experience comprises of teaching learning and research activities mainly in Cooch Behar College, University of Gour Banga, and presently in Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University. The research work of Dr Bhattacharya mainly deals with Health Economics, Environmental Economics, Development Economics, Resource Economics, and Financial Economics. Specially, multivariate analysis, multinomial distribution, data envelopment analysis, and stochastic frontier analysis are the preferred fields of econometrics of Dr Bhattacharya.

Dr Pradip Chouhan is Professor at the Department of Geography, University of Gour Banga, Malda, West Bengal, India. Earlier he was Assistant Professor at the Department of Geography, Jadavpur University, Kolkata. His areas of research interest are fertility behaviour, public health, maternal health, and child health. Actively engaged in teaching and research in Population Geography for nearly two decades, Prof. Chouhan has published more than 65 research papers in Scopus and Web of Science-indexed journals, edited 3 books, and authored 1 book. He is Reviewer of Scopus and Web of Science-indexed journals. He has completed a major research project funded by the Indian Council of Social Science Research, Ministry of Human Resource, Government of India. Dr Chouhan has also completed one minor research project funded by the University Grants Commission. He has successfully supervised 4 Ph.D. and 8 M.Phil. scholars.

Dr Suman Paul is Professor of Geography at Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University, Purulia, West Bengal, India. He received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from University of Calcutta, India, in 2000 and 2002, respectively. He achieved National Scholarship and stood 1st position (1st Class FIRST) at undergraduate level in Calcutta University. His areas of specialization are urban geography, environmental hazards and disaster analysis, GIS, and remote sensing. He completed his Ph.D. in Urban Geography from the Department of Geography, University of Calcutta, West Bengal, India, entitled ＂Emerging Urban Centres - Status and Possibilities: A Case Study of the District of North 24 Parganas, West Bengal＂. He was associated as Assistant Professor at Post Graduate Department of Geography with more than 9 years of experience at Krishnagar Government College (Nadia, WB) and Acharya B. N. Seal Government College (Cooch Behar, WB). He has presented several research papers in international, national, and state-level seminars and conferences. He has published a number of articles in reputed peer-reviewed international, national journal, and in edited books. He had completed two major research projects funded by the Department of Planning and Statistics (WB) and Department of Science and Technology & Biotechnology (WB) and one ongoing research programme funded by ICSSR, India.

Dr Indrajit Roy Chowdhury started his academic work in the field of Urban and Regional Planning, Transport Geography, GIS, and Remote Sensing. He has more than 50 research publications in high-quality peer-reviewed journals in the topics covering from urban environmental and infrastructural issues, regional planning, women empowerment. and gender related issues in the various reputed international and national journals. His research has been funded by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and Government of West Bengal. Dr Roy Chowdhury has recently completed a project on the ＂Problem and Prospect and Opportunities of Homestay Tourism in Sub-Himalayan North Bengal＂ funded by the University of North Bengal. Dr Roy Chowdhury has been funded by ICSSR, New Delhi, for Major Research Project, entitled ＂Understanding Quality of Life (QoL) of the Tribe in the hilly region of Darjiling and Kalimong District, West Bengal, India: A Future Road Map Towards Sustainable Development＂. He has served as Reviewer for many international journals. Dr Roy Chowdhury did his graduation in Geography Honours from Asutosh College, Kolkata, in 2005 and did his master’s in Geography from University of Calcutta in 2007. He was awarded Ph.D. degree by the University of Calcutta in 2015. His area of research in Ph.D. was ＂Urban Transport and Vehicular Emissions in Kolkata city＂. He is Assistant Professor at the Department of Geography and Applied Geography, University of North Bengal, West Bengal, India. A number of research scholars are also carrying out M.Phil. and Ph.D. research work under his supervision.

Dr Uday Chatterjee is Assistant Professor at the Department of Geography, Bhatter College, Dantan, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal, India, and Applied Geographer with a Doctoral Degree in Applied Geography at Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, Odisha, India. His areas of research interest cover urban planning, social and human geography, applied geomorphology, hazards and disasters, environmental issues, disaster governance, community-based disaster risk management, climate change adaptation, urban risk management, and disaster. He has delivered 07 invited lectures in University Grants Commissions (UGC)-sponsored national seminars and various academic departments of different colleges in India. In addition, he presented 18 papers in national and international seminars/conferences held in India as well as chaired and co-chaired more than 5 technical sessions. He has successfully guided project dissertations to undergraduate students. He has also conducted (Convener) one Faculty Development Programme on ＂Modern methods of teaching and advanced research methods＂ sponsored by Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), Government of India. Currently, Dr Uday Chatterjee has completed the Special Issue (S.I) of Urbanism, Smart Cities and Modelling, Geojournal, Springer, as Lead Editor; and Book Series Editor of Development in Environmental Science, Elsevier. His research work has been funded by the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB), Government of West Bengal, India. He has served as Reviewer for many international journals. Currently, Dr Chatterjee is doing the international project, in collaboration with Indonesia, Malaysia, and Japan funded by APN (Asia Pacific-Global Change Research), and he is Guest Editor of the special issue Social Ecology, Human-Well-being and Sustainability, Global Social Welfare Journal, Springer. He has published 30 research papers, 12 edited books, 2 author books, 11 book chapters, and 2 conference proceedings.