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Trends in pan evaporation (E_pan) and temperature were identified through the Mann-Kendall test over Jaisalmer to probe the existence of evaporation paradox in arid environments of Thar Desert, northwest India. We also analyzed trends in rainfall, relative humidity, wind speed, and sunshine duration in the context of climate change. Decreasing trends in E_pan were witnessed over Jaisalmer in the months of January, June, October and November in the range of -2.04 to -4.1 mm/year. Significant rainfall decreases were witnessed in the three crucial months of monsoon season, i.e., July, August and September, in range of -0.23 to -1.25 mm/year. Increasing trends in mean temperature were witnessed corresponding to annual and monthly (January, April, September, October and November) time scales in the range of 0.03 to 0.07 °C/year. The simultaneous E_pan decrease and temperature rise at Jaisalmer confirmed the existence of evaporation paradox in the months of winter and post-monsoon seasons, which may be due to decreases in wind speed and bright sunshine hours. The increase in temperature along with decreases in E_pan, rainfall, sunshine duration, and wind speed over Jaisalmer may have far reaching consequences for the fragile ecosystem of the Thar Desert.

One of major limitations in getting unbiased and balanced approach towards current climate change problem is inadequate participation of scientists from developing countries in IPCC assessment process. Current shortcomings in involving an adequate number of scientists from developing countries and to propose approaches to address this issue have been addressed in this paper. Implications of the involvement to climate change adaptation and mitigation research have been discussed at length. Scientific output of scientists is an important indicator of their career growth and also significant motivator for enhancing participation in IPCC assessment process. Impact of involvement of scientists in IPCC in terms of their scientific output has been assessed. We have made a statistical analysis of the origin of experts in the past assessment reports to reflect the participation. Scientific output in the form of number of peer reviewed papers published has been obtained and statistical t-test carried out for the significant change. The paper describes the results from these analyses and proposes appropriate recommendations for participation and capacity building.

In Kota, the third largest city of Rajasthan, poverty levels are high in many areas and there is a great need to assess the vulnerability and adaptive capacity of different societal groups and sectors to the impacts of climatic variability and change, and to formulate sustainable planning strategies. The city is a large rapidly growing centre (but not a megacity), facing a varied and challenging water situation and anticipated harmful effects of climate change. The methodological approach involves participatory workshops with key stakeholders in urban administration to identify vulnerabilities, and discuss concrete strategies for increasing the adaptive capacity of the most vulnerable areas and sectors. The paper focuses on water resource planning (storm, potable, and wastewater), since it is already a challenging societal issue and one which will become even more critical in the future with climate change. We aim to contribute to improved urban water management for sustainable climate change adaptation in developing countries through an improved methodology of vulnerability assessments, capacity building and social learning, and a deeper empirical understanding of an urban context in Central India.