For billions of people, mountain meltwater is essential for drinking water and sanitation, food and energy security, and the integrity of the environment. But today, as the world warms, glaciers are melting faster than ever, making the water cycle more unpredictable and extreme. And because of glacial retreat, floods, droughts, …
snowy alpine regions of Australia are shrinking because of global warming, claim scientists. "The alpines may disappear completely within the next 70 years,' opines John Morgan, a botanist at the La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia. A study conducted by the university's researchers found that sub-alpine trees in the snowy mountains …
The magic of the Himalaya is heady. It has led many researchers and travelers to record their impression of this mountain range. Himalaya : Life on the edge of the world, is one such labour of love by David Zurick and PP Karan both professors of geography at the Eastern …
One third of Mount Kilimanjaro's ice fields have completely melted in the last two decades and the rest of the mountain's ice could disappear by 2015, says Lonnie Thompson, a professor at the us -based Ohio State University, who made an aerial survey of the mountain's peak. He attributed the …
Sherpa climbers will be paid to collect garbage dumped on Mount Everest by the Nepal Mountaineering Association. The sherpas usually act as guides and carry supplies for people climbing the Everest, the world's highest mountain. "We are considering paying US $13.50 for each kilogramme of garbage they collect,' said Bhumi …
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Nepal, has launched a 100-year programme for the conservation of the western Terai and Chure hills, one of the best habitats for Royal Bengal tiger, one horned Asiatic rhino and elephant. The WWF has identified 236 out of 800 animal habitats as endangered …
Volunteers with mountain-climbing experience have been employed to plant trees on the slopes of Mikurajima island, south of Tokyo. Landslides had devastated the greenery on these slopes when a typhoon struck the area five years ago. The volunteers used ropes to keep their balance when planting trees on the 40-degree …
Geologists have known for long that formation of mountains affects the Earth's ecosystems. But due to the uncertainty in establishing the age of the highest mountains, the relationship between formation of topography and tectonic processes is unclear. One way to ascertain the variation of physical features is the effect that …
The Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment, Maneka Gandhi, has been selected for the Prani Mitra award for her services to the cause of animals. Many NGOs in Assam have expressed apprehension that with the authorities planning to withdraw the last police platoon from Manas National Park, …
To prevent collisions of aeroplanes with mountains, several major airlines have announced plans to install a satellite-based navigation system in the cockpits of planes. The equipment, called enhanced ground proximity warning system, uses the global positioning system of satellites to pinpoint the exact location of the plane. With this information, …
On the major threat to the environment in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region: The major threat to the environment in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas is poverty and population growth. The need for more land for increasing population, expansion of agriculture and the growing demand for wood has taken a toll on the …
FIRST published in 1997, the book is a contribution to Chapter 13 of Agenda 21 of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (unced). The world's mountains finally received the attention they deserved at unced, commonly referred to as the Earth Summit, which was held at Rio de Janeiro …
On the major problems besieging the Himalaya: Mountain regions the world over have been neglected. The Himalaya face a major water crisis. In spite of housing the source of three major river systems, the resource is scarce in the hills. The other issue is irrigation. Less than 10 per cent …
the Alps, the Himalaya and the Caucasus mountains once formed part of an unbroken chain of a mountain range some 40 to 45 million years ago. According to two Australian geologists, this colossal mountain range stretched all the way from Spain, through Asia, to the southwest Pacific, may be as …
An expedition was launched recently in a bid to clean up the mess atop Mount Everest, the world's highest peak. Fifteen Nepali climbers set out with empty sacks to collect 1,500 kg of garbage in 50 days from the peak, which is now known as the highest junk yard on …
With garbage piling mountain-high in Nepal, countries like Russia are now taking up the cause of cleaning up the awe-inspiring Mount Everest. Oleg Fedorov, a Russian ecologist believes that it is possible to return to the mountain its pristine glory, with three years of dedicated effort. The Russian Mountaineering Federation …
Recently there was a gathering of people ("academics, bureaucrats, and a sprinkling of activists" in the words of Himal reporter Kanak Dixit) interested in stopping the accelerating impoverishment of mountain environments and their peoples. They met at Lima in Peru and talked for a week. And then they wrote a …
IN THE past century, humans have polluted the oceans, poisoned rivers and lakes, made deserts of good, arable land, felled forests, and severely eroded the mountainsides. This book seeks to protect the best that remains of this superb wilderness. The implications of the uses and misuses of the biological diversity …
NEPAL will use a $3.3 million grant from the Global Environment Facility to conserve the unique ecosystem of the Barun valley on the southern slopes of Mount Everest. The valley lies in the Makalu-Barun National Park and conservation area and is believed to be one of the Himalayan kingdom's richest …
SCIENTISTS are using the latest equipment and most modern techniques to measure to an accuracy of 10 cm the height of Mt Everest and test the validity of an American astronomer's announcement in 1987 that Mt K2 (Godwin Austen) is the world's highest peak. Giorgio Poretti, who is implementing a …
MOUNTAINS have always enjoyed a special status. Their beauty and mysticism have inspired poets, philosophers and even fairy-tale tellers. We accept their importance as sources of minerals and water, rare plants and wildlife. But what we have never realised is the plight of mountains. Though uplands cover roughly 20 per …
