A suggested index for assessment of vulnerability of a location to climate change

With a view to develop a tool to assess the vulnerability of a region to local climate 15 criteria / vulnerability proxies as main factors relevant to reflect their impact on local climate were selected based on the experts' opinion. Each criterion was provided with an optimum value. The value below and above the optimum were considered to indicate lesser and severe vulnerability respectively and scores were assigned accordingly. An interaction table was developed between the 15 criteria selected. By adding main factor points with interaction points for a particular region, one could assess the vulnerability nature of the region selected for studying the impacts to climate change based on the five scales framed for this purpose. A trial run was made for two locations and the results were found valid.