Holocene variability of the Indian summer monsoon in the Himalaya and its foreland, and linkages to the society

Rainfall distribution, strength and temporal variability is an important element of the global economics of food security and therefore demands precise predictability. The strong predictive models require good datasets at various time scales and spatial resolution that brings geologists and climate scientists to an interface of science and society. Well-dated geological records in peat lands, lakes and speleothems, provide us on long-term records of rainfall variability, vegetation and causal mechanism where a good number of studies are conducted during the last two decades. This article provides an overview of (i) Holocene climate variability as recorded in peat, lakes and speleothems that mainly focuses on the reconstruction of past variability in Indian Summer Monsoon strength, (ii) forcing factors, and (iii) societal evolution vis-a-vis monsoonal changes in India.