Introduction:We investigated the magnitude and duration of desalination of Pulicat-a coastal lagoon ecosystem connected to the Bay of Bengal on the South-eastern coast of India-during the 2015 South India flood event which was a period of high-magnitude precipitation and riverine flooding.
Methods:We estimated freshwater runoff into the lagoon using flow accumulation models for a period of 55 days (November 1 to December 25, 2015) using daily gridded precipitation data from the Global Precipitation Measurement and a digital elevation model. Using the estimates of freshwater runoff, direct precipitation and observed salinities, we simulated water and salinity fluxes of the lagoon using the Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone model. Further, we also used Monte Carlo simulation to estimate the uncertainty in system salinity, the residual salinity at the boundary and the freshwater residence times in the lagoon.
Results:We estimated that a high volume (~760 × 10 6 m 3 ) of relatively low salinity waters (residual salinity = 23.47 psu) had been exported from the lagoon to the Bay of Bengal during the period which is likely to have caused a strong dip in the daily salinity profile of the coastal sea. We contend that the lagoon experienced~40% desalination due to the 2015 event with a freshwater residence time of 18.5 days.
Conclusions:The study highlighted the short-term, high-magnitude desalination undergone by Pulicat lagoon during the 2015 South India floods. Considering the high residual and exchange volumes obtained from the study, we conclude that Pulicat could be a major exporter of relatively low salinity waters to the Bay of Bengal during monsoons.
Land degradation, extending over 96 million hectares is a primary ecological issue for India that has resulted in catastrophic biodiversity loss and exacerbated extreme weather occurrences. One of the major sources of land degradation is large-scale coal mining to realize country's expanding energy demands. By 2050 climate change and land degradation, will result in US$1730 billion loss for India. Climate COP in Glasgow, 2021 was a watershed event to confront broader climate change challenges.India made one of the boldest pledges to pursue the road of climate justice, protect the most vulnerable, and committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070. This means gradually phasing down coal, reducing emissions and mainstreaming renewable sources. Given the prospect of five challenging but attainable targets, we examine India's readiness and the ramifications of these targets on land degradation reduction. Indian government is continuously increasing strategic support for improved mine closure and mine void restoration while, ensuring that land restoration supports 'green' job creation for poverty alleviation. While there is focus on investing significant amounts of national funding to address land degradation, international and private finances can enable to accomplish the larger goals. To enhance the effectiveness of the promises, we propose embedding diverse knowledge systems including indigenous knowledge systems and capabilities by formulating policies that incentivize environmental restoration, people-centric, climate sensitive strategies, convergence between different government departments as well as schemes, and mainstreaming of systems thinking as a social transformation approach for achieving coupled Climate and Land Degradation Neutrality targets by 2030 and 2070.
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