Introduction Uttarakhand is a mountainous land with more than 60 percent as forest (Guha, 2006). High Himalayan peaks and glaciers cover the northern part of Uttarakhand (Riley & William, 2005). Climatic conditions and forest coverage vary greatly with height. Glaciers are at the highest point and the subtropical forests at the lowest point (Riley & William, 2005). One moves from ice and bare rock at the top to alpine shrub and meadows then to sub-alpine conifer forests (Guha, 2006). Due to agricultural activities and massive infrastructure, most of the lowland forests have been cleared to pave way (Riley & William, 2005). Human activities in the state are believed to be the cause of environmental imbalance resulting in the frequent occurrences of disasters in the state. Natural disaster From 14th to 17th June 2013, the northern part of the Indian state of Uttarakhand received heavy rainfall (Sharma, 2013). Due to the continuous downpour, the Charabari glacier melted leading to the flooding of Mandakini river (Sharma, 2013). The floods resulted in a massive scale of destruction to property and loss of human life. The official reports indicate deaths of 822 people, and 1800 missing persons (Sharma, 2013). Damaged houses were found to be 2232 in number. One hundred and fifty four bridges and 1520 roads were completely swept away rendering them impassable (Sharma, 2013). After Tsunami in 2004, the June 2013 flooding became another worst natural disaster (Sharma, 2013). Disaster Causes and Possible Prevention A common occurrence in Northern India is the summer monsoons winds (Guha, 2006), which in turn cause heavy downpours and floods. The sudden change in rainfall patterns is attributed to global warming (Riley & William, 2005). Stu... ... middle of paper ... ... such occurrences. However, the government of Uttrakhand never enforced environmental related laws. People were allowed to engage in environmental destructive activities, which precipitated to the June 2013 floods. If people were educated on dangers of deforestation, unplanned buildings, and outdated cultural activities, the damage caused would have been minimal. Works Cited Guha, R. (2006). The unquiet woods: ecological change and peasant resistance in the Himalaya. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press. Sharma, Ravi (2013). "Uttarakhand Floods Wash out Hill Tourism, Hotel Occupancy as Low as 5-10% despite 50% Lower Rates." The Economic Times. The Economic Times, 7 Aug. 2013. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. Riley, Laura; William Riley (2005). Nature's Strongholds: The World's Great Wildlife Reserves. Vol. 208. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-12219-9.
On the basis of the evidence, it is accepted that climate change is occurring and the climate will change even further due to our fossil fuel based economy, the increasing number of people and their increasing wealth. The increase in greenhouse gases has already started having impacts on the climate, natural ecosystems and human societies. It is clear that the average surface temperatures have increased and it will continue to do as more carbon dioxide gets released into the atmosphere. The recent warming is unprecedented in both magnitude and speed. The projected warming for the 21st century will expect to create severe problems for natural ecosystems and human societies. Water resources are already suffering from increases stresses, and are likely to be reduced. This will inhibit the growth of crops and adversely affect other water uses such as water use for industries and the water supply for the human population. This will lead to more severe food shortages. The glaciers and ice sheets are already retreating, and will retreat more which will lead to changes in the total and annual cycle of river flow in some rivers, threatening water supplies further. Impact on the ecosystems will affect the distribution and productivity of plant and animal species and water supply. A loss of biodiversity is likely to be accelerated by climate change. There will be an increase in extreme weather events such as increases in flood magnitude and frequencies, increases in drought intensity, frequency and duration as evaporation rates will be greater. Higher average temperatures and possibly increased variability are likely to lead to increased frequency and severity of heat waves, causing additional deaths due to heat stress and vector-borne disea...
The rise in temperature is having a significant impact on levels of rainfall, which in turn effects water run-off. Satellite observations since 1987 have shown that, as global temperatures have increased, global mean precipitation has increased in parallel at a rate of 7.4 ± 2.6% per ◦C ...
Over 650 million Indians depend on climate-sensitive sectors like agriculture, forestry and fishery for their livelihoods. The adverse impacts of water availability due to change in rainfall, increased flooding in certain areas and recession of glaciers combined with increased water demand due to demographic development and climate change could threaten food security, destabilize the natural ecosystems including species that sustain the livelihood of rural households and impact the coastal system due to sea level rise and increased extreme weather events (Garg et al. 2007).
Flooding is an extreme climatic event that generates devastation and economic losses all around the world. The extreme climatic events are increasing more severe and frequent due to the climate change. The climate change is a global scale, the mean annual surface temperature has increased over the past century by 0.6°C (IPCC, 2007).Climate models and theoretical arguments further indicate that extreme precipitation events will continue to increase with rises in greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations (Min et al., 2011). Climate change will have significant impacts on precipitation patterns, overall increase in annual average temperature, increase precipitation of frequency, magnitude, precipitation amounts, severe events and flooding risk. The frequency, magnitude and severity of flooding are also increasing in many parts of the world associated with climate change, population pressure and urbanization (Hirabayashi et al., 2013., Jongman et al., 2014). These increases in the frequency and severity of extreme precipitation, impact of climate change associated damages and losses from flooding, is also likely to increase in the 21st century and beyond (Allamano et al., 2009; Pallet al., 2011).
There are hundreds of natural disasters that occur on the earth on a yearly basis. Some natural disasters are more severe than other natural disasters. disasters include floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis. These disasters cause great trauma, stress, major property damage and sometimes death. Natural disasters is any catastrophic event that is caused by nature or the natural processes of the earth. The severity of a disaster are measured in lives lost, economic loss, and the ability of the population to rebuild. The bigger, the population the disaster hits, the more repairs needed. In many cases, these major events are heartbreaking to watch, let alone to experience. (“Natural disasters,” n.d.)
"Infochange India." Hirakud Dam Causing Rather than Preventing Orissa Floods? N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. .
Interactions between human and the ecosystem have been operating for millenniums, and are impossible to eliminate, as each depends on the other in order to survive and flourish. However, as modern technology advances, as well as the increase in the world’s population, the need for natural resources begin to rise to an alarming rate which has started to gradually destroy the ecosystem. Recently, there has been an increase of sea levels in region whilst other rain-bounty areas have begun to experience their first droughts. This phenomenon is known as climate change. Climatologists have concluded that human activity has played a major role in contributing to the changes, therefore requiring extreme measures before this phenomenon evolves into a catastrophe. In this essay, we will discuss human activities that contributed to climate change, as well as addressing possible solutions to the phenomenon.
Yamada G., Gunatilake R, P., Imur, R, M., Gunatilake, S., Fernando, T., Fernando, L. The Sri Lanka Tsunami Experience. Disaster Management and Response. 2006; 4:38–48.
...r capability and convenience. Forests also control the natural balance. People should be made aware of it. Mills, factories, brick-fields should be set up in a very good planned way. There should be well drainage system to pass away waste materials, wastages and poisonous chemicals.
The world today is faced with a huge problem; the problem of disappearing forests and associated habitats. While global warming is on the rise due to higher levels of greenhouse gases being emitted all the time from large-scale industrialization and to accommodate the never-ending expansion of the world population, the depletion of the CO2 absorbers, trees and plants, is also to blame. Hundreds of species of animals and plants are going extinct, while many are being recorded down in the list of endangered/protected species every year. Sundarbans is one of the biggest examples of human exploitation on forests and its flora and fauna in the world. This amazingly diverse and resource-rich ecoregion was declared a reserved forest
Vasco da Gama landed at Calicut, sailing via the Cape of Good Hope in 1498. This marked the beginning of
Imagine more than half of the population of Kenosha being over-taken by a deluge of water without warning or the ability to escape. On December 26, 2004, an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale, occurred in the Indian Ocean off of the Samaritan coast, triggering the deadliest tsunami in recorded history. Before the tsunami, this region of the world was one of the most sought after vacation spots. After the record-breaking destruction, the pristine beach front and inviting residents were forever changed. The regional damage was so massive that it demanded a response on a global scale for rescue, recovery, stability, and to rebuild this treasured place.
Climate change is an inevitable phenomenon that is being experienced globally in various forms such as temperature rise. Sea level rise, droughts, floods, hurricanes, landslides, etc. According to the forth assessment report of the IPCC project even with immediate implementation of mitigation strategies global climate change will continue for decades. Climate change is inflicting serious consequences on human wellbeing and will continue to inflict damages in the future. It is estimated that mean global temperature will rise by 1.8 ºC - 4.0 ºC by end of the 21st century (Izaurraade, 2009). A new global climate model predicts that in the coming decade the surface air temperature is likely to exceed existing records (Smith et al., 2007). Growing season temperatures in the tropics and subtropics by end of the 21st century will exceed the most extreme temperature recorded in the history (Battistic and Rosamond, 2009).
Global warming is one of the main causes, which leads to the lack of water and drought. A drought-like condition exists in most of India’s part. Government of India states that 68% of the country is disposed to the drought, which (consequences are) leads to massive migration of people to more favorable places, famine, conflicts among inhabitants. India is known in the world as one of the biggest producers of water-intensive crops such as rice, sugarcane and wheat. According to a survey done by Grail Research, approximately 82% of total water is used for agricultural consumption and 90% of it is employed for irrigation of rice, wheat and sugarcane (Grail Research, LLC, 2009). There are several solutions which could lead to the decr...
Three major roads pass through the Nagarahole and Bandipur reserves and have had a serious negative impact on one of India’s most critical wildlife habitats. Mitigation measures have been proposed by local authorities and WCS are conducting research to see whether additional steps are required and if the proposed methods will be effective. See the preliminary report for further details.