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With its towering peaks, majestic landscapes, rich biodiversity and cultural heritage, the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) has long drawn visitors and pilgrims from the Indian sub-continent and across the world
. The IHR attracts those who seek vistas, adventure, cooler climates in the summer, sport, spiritual solace, peace, and the many cultural assets of mountains. These dynamics have turned tourism into a key driver of socioeconomic development. For local mountain people, tourism provides valuable economic and business opportunities and jobs, and for state governments and private entrepreneurs it brings revenues and profits. The 11th Five-Year Plan of India’s Planning Commission states, “Tourism is the largest service industry in the country. Its importance lies in being an instrument for economic development and employment generation, particularly in remote and backward areas (e.g., in IHR)”. Tourism and hospitality sector directly contributes about US$ 71.5 billion to the GDP (www.ibef.org). Moreover, the 12th Five-Year Plan clearly recognizes pro-poor tourism for inclusive growth
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Global warming and its relevant effects have aroused increasing human concerns in recent decades
. These anomalies are likely influencing vegetation dynamics and ecosystem stability. This paper aims to dissect extreme temperature variations in both space and time, and related regional responses to global warming in the Huai River Basin. Using the daily maximum and minimum air temperature at 153 stations across the Huai River Basin, China, covering the period of 1961–2014, trends and relations amongst extreme air temperature indices were analyzed, and regional responses of the Huai River Basin to global warming process were also investigated. The results indicated that: (1) widespread increasing trends can be observed in maximum and minimum air temperature, with the largest increasing magnitude of 0.4 °C per decade and 1.3 °C per decade, respectively. The minimum air temperature regimes have a larger increasing magnitude than the maximum air temperatures. (2) There is an increasing trend in the extreme maximum temperature indices, and the increasing rates of TN90p and TR20 are greater than those of the other extreme maximum temperature indices. However, the extreme minimum temperature indices, except for consecutive icy days (CID), show significant decreasing trends. The growing season length (GSL) would increase due to the joint action of (i) an increase in maximum temperature indices, and (ii) a decrease in minimum temperatures indices. Although increases in the GSL would be beneficial for increasing the growing time of crops, a decreased extreme minimum temperature and increased extreme maximum temperature may reduce the winter wheat yield. (3) Extreme low temperature indices show a larger changing magnitude than the extreme high temperature indices. Temporally, a larger changing magnitude can be identified for temperature indices during night-time than during daytime. Moreover, a larger changing magnitude and higher significance of trends of extreme temperature indices can be observed in the eastern Huai River Basin than in the western Huai River Basin. Particularly, we detect an even higher changing rate of extreme temperature indices in the southeastern Huai River Basin. These findings can be well explained by urban heat island effects resulting from urban aggregation across the Yangtze Delta. (4) The correlation between the extreme low temperature indices is slightly higher than that of the extreme high temperature indices. The changing trends of the most extreme temperature indices are closely related to latitude and altitude. Trends in the main extreme temperature indices of the Huai River Basin are essentially similar to those in other regions around the world, implying consistent spatial patterns of extreme temperature indices across the globe
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Azam, M. F.; Ramanathan, A. L.; Wagnon, P.; Vincent, C.; Linda, A.; Berthier, E.; Sharma, P.; Mandal, A.; Angchuk, T.; Singh, V. B.; Pottakkal, J. G.
We present the updated glaciological mass balance (MB) of Chhota Shigri Glacier, the longest continuous annual MB record in the Hindu-Kush Karakoram Himalaya (HKH) region
. Additionally, 4 years of seasonal MBs are presented and analyzed using the data acquired at an automatic weather station (AWS-M) installed in 2009 on a lateral moraine (4863ma.s.l.). The glaciological MB series since 2002 is first recalculated using an updated glacier hypsometry and then validated against geodetic MB derived from satellite stereo-imagery between 2005 (SPOT5) and 2014 (Pléiades). Chhota Shigri Glacier lost mass between 2002 and 2014 with a cumulative glaciological MB of –6.72mw.e. corresponding to a mean annual glacier-wide MB (Ba) of –0.56mw.e. a–1. Equilibrium-line altitude (ELA0) for the steady-state condition is calculated as ~4950ma.s.l., corresponding to an accumulation–area ratio (AAR0) of ~61%. Analysis of seasonal MBs between 2009 and 2013 with air temperature from AWS-M and precipitation from the nearest meteorological station at Bhuntar (1050ma.s.l.) suggests that the summer monsoon is the key season driving the interannual variability of Ba for this glacier. The intensity of summer snowfall events controls the Ba evolution via controlling summer glacier-wide MB (Bs)
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Farmers in the Indian Himalayan region have been practicing agroforestry since time immoral
. Agroforestry practice complements hill farming and forms the backbone of subsistence agriculture. The present study was carried out in four districts of Garhwal Himalaya. Agroforestry area was demarcated using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System techniques. The information regarding agriculture and tree crop pattern was collected through questionnaire survey and direct observations. The agri-horti-silviculture is very common practice of this region. As compared to geographical area the net sown area is very low with wide variations within study area. A small portion of the net sown area has been utilized for the agroforestry purpose. Topographical factors play a crucial role in utilization of the land for agroforestry purpose. Highest agroforestry area, as well the highest agroforestry land as percentage of total geographical area, was estimated as 2.13 % in one of the district of study area. Within 300–7100 m a.s.l. of study area, maximum agroforestry was found in 1201–1600 m a.s.l. altitudinal zone and in 21°–30° slope. Cropping pattern is dominated by the traditional and low productivity crops, providing basic livelihood for a vast majority of the population. Many farmers in the Garhwal Himalayan areas are struggling to make a livelihood due to lack of other avenues of employment and small land holdings, leading to migration of mountain people toward plains. It is presumed that the rate of migration can be reduced once the agroforestry potential of this area is harnessed at an optimum level
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Joshi, L.; Karky, B. S.; Poudel, K. C.; Bhattarai, K.; Dangi, R.; Acharya, K.; Uprety, B.; Singh, V.; Chand, N.; Manandhar, U.
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The “Kyoto: Think global Act Local” initiative is an international project
. It was set up to assess the potential for communities such as those in the state of Uttarakhand, India, to benefit from carbon trading. Members of village forest councils were trained to measure how much carbon their forests store per year. They are now looking for more “buyers” for their carbon, while continuing to manage their forests sustainably
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