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Life in the Himalaya - An Ecosystem at Risk (Hardcover)
Loot Price: R1,158
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Life in the Himalaya - An Ecosystem at Risk (Hardcover)
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The collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates around fifty
million years ago profoundly altered earth's geography and regional
climates. The rise of the Himalaya led to intensification of the
monsoon, the birth of massive glaciers and turbulent rivers, and an
efflorescence of ecosystems along the most extreme elevational
gradient on Earth. When the Ice Age ended, humans became part of
this mix, and today nearly one quarter of the world's population
inhabits its river basins, from Afghanistan to Myanmar. Life in the
Himalaya examines the region's geophysical and biological systems
and explores the past and future of human sustainability in the
mountain's shadow. Maharaj Pandit divides the Himalaya's history
into four phases. During the first, the mountain and its ecosystems
formed. In the second, humans altered the landscape, beginning with
nomadic pastoralism, continuing to commercial deforestation, and
culminating in pockets of resistance to forest exploitation. The
third phase saw a human population explosion, accompanied by road
and dam building and other large-scale infrastructure that degraded
ecosystems and caused species extinctions. Pandit outlines a future
networking phase which holds the promise of sustainable living
within the mountain's carrying capacity. Today, the Himalaya is
threatened by recurrent natural disasters and is at risk of
catastrophic loss of life. If humans are to have a sustainable
future there, Pandit argues, they will need to better understand
the region's geological vulnerability, ecological fragility, and
sociocultural sensitivity. Life in the Himalaya outlines the
mountain's past in order to map a way forward.
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