Threats of climate change are real and omnipresent. Our planet earth is under continuing threat from global warming. The fourth Assessment Report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) points out that warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from the observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice and rising global average sea level. It further states that eleven of the last twelve years (1995-2006) rank among the twelve warmest years in the instrumental record of global surface temperature since 1850. The linear warming trend over the 50 years from 1950 to 2005 is nearly twice that for the 100 years from the 1906 to 2005. This unprecedented increase is expected to have severe impact on the global hydrological system, ecosystems, sea level, crop production and related processes. The impact would be particularly severe in the tropical areas, which mainly consist of developing countries, including India.
Falling in the same line, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) warns that the progress in human development achieved over the last decade may be slowed down or even reversed by climate change, as new threats emerge to water and food security, agricultural production and access, and nutrition and public health. The impacts of climate change could push another 600 million people into malnutrition and increase the number of people facing water scarcity by 1.8 billion by 2080. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) estimates that there are 1.2 billion people who cannot meet their most basic needs for sufficient food every day.2
To highlight the need of building awareness about climate change and its serious implications and spread climate literacy to cope with climate induced vulnerabilities, M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) in collaboration with Grameen Gyan Abhiyan and Jamsetji Tata National Virtual Academy (NVA) and Training School organised a national two days workshop on the "Role of Gyan Choupals (telecentres) in Spreading Climate Literacy and in Building Sustainable Food and Water Security Systems" on 2-3 September 2009 at the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, New Delhi. The workshop was a very timely effort considering the fact that India  is passing through a difficult phase of drought and price hike, particularly vegetables, pulses and cereals. It has been recognised by the scientific communities that adverse impact of climate change is tangible and is affecting almost every aspect of human life. M S Swaminathan highlighted the acute level of  water and food insecurity in India and what should be done to mitigate and adapt to the adverse impacts of over exploitation of natural resources and climate change. Since marginalised and weaker sections of the society are the hardest hit by these climate induced vulnerabilities, therefore, it is imperative that they are informed about and made aware of climate change, its implications and the adaptation and mitigation strategies that are useful to them. To do this, an effective and efficient information delivery and knowledge
sharing  system has to be established at the grassroots level of the society. Future of food security in the developing world, particularly in India, is dependent on knowledge intensity.
At the workshop, many other experts and enlightened scholars highlighted the role of space technology, universities and research institutions in adaptation and mitigation to climate change, spreading climate literacy and providing applicable research. The workshop also provided opportunities to community practitioners to share their experiences from across the country in the domains of water management, food security, promoting sustainable livelihoods and safeguarding biodiversity. Blaming the government intervention for water insecurity in the country, both Rajendra Singh and Sunita Narain emphasised on community driven approach to water management for building a sustainable water security system. Taking a swipe at the government's initiatives on the privatisation of water resources and distribution system, Rajendra Singh opined that the government had been creating a system of exploitation that would certainly lead to more water unavailability in the country.

Telecentres for information and knowledge dissemination
Advanced ICTs are offering new ways for communicating and sharing information and knowledge. The role of telecentres can be viewed in the broader framework of ICTs and climate change and as effective mechanisms to provide information at the grassroots level of society for adaptation to climate change and minimisation of risks from climate induced calamities. Since in most of the cases, projections and predicted changes in the climate are uncertain, therefore, its implications, particularly, rural and vulnerable sections of populations whose adaptive capacity is low and social security measures available to them are not adequate, could be disastrous.    
There are pros and cons of ICTs with regards to climate change. On one hand, ICTs contribute to greenhouse gas emission and radiate heat, which leads to global warming. On the other hand, the use of ICTs can help in monitoring, evaluating, projecting, predicting changes in climate and providing early warning to people in risk prone areas. ICT mechanisms can also help in adaptation to the impact of climate change from the grassroots level. Bottom up approach is required for disseminating knowledge and information about the impact of climate change and also to communicate adaptation and mitigation strategies with the populations that are vulnerable. 
Another aspect of the role of ICTs in climate change is information dissemination and knowledge sharing among local people. It implies reaching the people who do not have access to any reliable source of information. During the workshop, particularly during two sessions, on the role of space technology in mitigation and adaptation to climate change and role of universities and research institutions in promoting climate literacy, it was highlighted, that there is a fast-growing body of information on the climate, including information about current climate variability, and improving global and regional models of the future climate change.

Improving linkages: telecentre movement in India 
There has been a growing realisation that rural and other isolated areas of the country must be connected in order to provide access to prompt information and other public services to people. Now knowledge connectivity is understood to be an integral part of the development process. The efforts of M S Swaminathan were appreciated during the MSSRF workshop as it was due to his vision and perseverance that the Government of India incorporated knowledge connectivity as a focus in the nation's Eleventh Five Year Plan, which eventually snowballed into the telecentre revolution in India. These centres can be the platform for promoting sustainable development and adaptation with help of local government institutions.
With the help of CSC, local government can share knowledge, information and become aware of the advance research, which could minimise the risk of climate induced calamities and also promote the adaptation to climate change.

Challenges to disseminating information
The adverse impact of climate change are tangible, as they are projected in the study of various intergovernmental organisations. But little has been done yet to adapt to and mitigate climate change at the grassroots level. Adaptation and promotion of sustainable development requires both top-down and bottom up approaches. Top-down approach is required for projection and prediction and bottom up approach is warranted to promote sustainable development and adaptation. Despite the revolution in the ICTs in India, the reach of these technologies is still limited. People are not aware of the uses of these technologies and services provided through them. Basic facilities in terms of electricity, connectivity, skilled human resources, etc., for the deployment of ICTs in rural areas are still inadequate or almost missing in some cases. Providing information in local languages is another complicated process, though a lot of efforts are being put in this direction, which will bear fruits in the near future. 

Conclusion
In conclusion, the adverse impact of climate change is far reaching and has the potential to alter the current course and pace of development. Since the poorest of poor are on the edge because they have very limited capacity to cope with the many faces of climate induced calamities,  their capacities to adapt to these impact must be built up with knowledge, information and skills development to understand the changes that  are taking place in their ecosystem as also to recognise and report the initial signs of impending calamities, which can act as advance warning for the nearby communities, nations and for the world. Correct information at the appropriate moment and effective dissemination are crucial for coping with climate change. In this context, the role of telecentres is quite effective and relevant. CSCs can be very effective medium to strengthen local governance, community participation, empowerment, spreading climate literacy and so on, which are fundamental for coping with climate change in India. To overcome it's challenges, India needs to take some policy measures as proposed by Basheerhamad Shadrach, IDRC during the Valedictory session of the MSSRF workshop. His recommendation was to make 'knowledge connectivity' a realistic and implementable activity of the Bharat Nirman programme of India, encourage convergence among government agencies implementing this programme, provide skilled workers at the grassroots level,  and create 6000 community colleges who's primary goal would be skills development in rural areas, and develop telecentres as knowledge repositories of rural India.