|
|
This policy summary looks at reported and possible, future consequences of climate change in the greater Himalayan region
. The main emphasis is on responses in high mountain phenomena like glaciers, permafrost, and avalanches; the implications for water resources, ecosystems, and hazards; and how these threaten regional populations. The assessment points to a serious need to improve relevant knowledge in the region concerting key policy areas and strategies to improve the adaptive capacities of communities at risk
Read More
|
|
|
Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) are common natural hazards in the Himalaya
. These floods, usually of large magnitude, can severely affect fragile mountain ecosystems and their limited economic activities. In this study, GLOF hazard in the Sagarmatha region (national park and buffer zone) was assessed using dam break and hydrodynamic modeling. The available data from the Dig Tsho GLOF of 1985 were used to validate many of the model outputs. The technique was further
applied to GLOF hazard assessment of Imja Lake, the largest and potentially most dangerous glacial lake in the region. The peak outflow discharge of an Imja GLOF is estimated at 5463 m3/s. The peak discharge attenuates to about 2000 m3/s at the boundary of the buffer zone at about 45 km from the outburst site. Finally, a GLOF vulnerability rating map was prepared and an assessment of vulnerable settlements was carried out. The study was found to be a cost-effective means of obtaining preliminary information on the extent and
impact of possible GLOF events?information that is useful for developing plans for early warning systems and implementing management plans
Read More
|
|
|
The paper presents a catchment modeling approach for remote glacierized Himalayan catchments
. The distributed catchment model TACD, which is widely based on the HBV model, was further developed for the application in highly glacierized catchments on a daily timestep and applied to the Nepalese Himalayan headwater Langtang Khola (360 km2). Low laying reference stations are taken for temperature extrapolation applying a second order polynomial function. Probability based statistical methods enable bridging data gaps in daily precipitation time series and the redistribution of cumulated precipitation sums over the previous days. Snow and ice melt was calculated in a distributed way based on the temperature-index method employing calculated daily potential sunshine durations. Different melting conditions of snow and ice and melting of ice under debris layers were considered. The spatial delineation of hydrological response units was achieved by taking topographic and physiographic information from maps and satellite images into account, and enabled to incorporate process knowledge into the model. Simulation results demonstrated that the model is able to simulate daily discharge for a period of 10 years and point glacier mass balances observed in the research area with an adequate reliability. The simple but robust data pre-processing and modeling approach enables the determination of the components of the water balance of a remote, data scarce catchment with a minimum of input data
Read More
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reveiw of: Cross, J P; 2000, The Throne of Stone
. Mandala Book Point, Kathmandu, Nepal.
The throne of stone, depicted clearly on the cover photograph of the book under review, is a very large flat stone on a mountain top, slightly raised one end. It is an unusual stone that generations of ancient Tura - known today as Dura - chieftains or rulersof Turlung in the Lamjung district of west Nepal, sanctified by tradition and rite as the ruler of the Tura people during the pre-unification days were crowned. According to tradition, the chief or ruler of the Tura tribe or community would anoint vermilion powder on his forehead. All subjects would then come and pay homage
Read More
|
|
|
Precipitation records from 78 stations distributed across Nepal were analysed and all-Nepal (1948–1994) and subregional records (1959–1994) were developed
. The all-Nepal and regional precipitation series showed significant variability on annual and decadal time scales. Distinct long-term trends were not found in these precipitation records. The all-Nepal record agrees well with the precipitation records from northern India, while it does not compare well with the all-India precipitation record. The all-Nepal monsoon record is highly correlated with the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) series. The exceptionally dry year of 1992 recorded in Nepal coincides with the elongated El Niño of 1992–1993 and the Mount Pinatubo eruption. A remarkable cooling in the region covering the Tibetan Plateau also occurred in 1992, suggesting that Pinatubo aerosol played a major role in the drought of that particular year in Nepal. In other years, the correlation between the precipitation record from Nepal and the temperature of the Tibetan Plateau is not significant, while a stronger correlation with temperature over the Indian Ocean and southern India exists. This provides further support for the strong relationship between the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and precipitation fluctuation in Nepal. The correlation is stronger between all-Nepal monsoon precipitation and SOI averaged over seasons following the monsoon compared with seasons preceding the monsoon. Copyright © 2000 Royal Meteorological Societ
Read More
|
|
|
Book review: Sharma, G; Kanel, N
.R.; Sharma, N.K.; eds. 2000, Nepal: Missing elements in the development thinking. Nirala Publications, Kathmandu, Nepal.
An eminent economist of international repute while answering questions at a talk programme remarked that the economy of southern Asian nations are fragile and have a narrow base. He added that the foundations of such economies were further complicated by the fact that the foundations also have deep, gaping, unfathomable "holes" which make them all the more vulnerable.
The picture is apt in the Nepalese context, especially with the rise of corruption after the restoration of the multiparty dispensation in the country. While the corruption issue has always occupied a centre stage in debates, talk programmes and seminars, corruption unchecked have all the while steadily eaten right into the very heart of the Nepalese economy.
Read More
|
|
|
Protest poets throughout the world have always been the nation's voice of conscience
. They have through history swayed governments, toppled dictators and changed political systems. They have always mirrored society in its various forms, and moreover, oppression in all its aspects. They have vehemently criticised and held up to ridicule the vices and corrupt practices of brokers of power and have in all earnestness, like true crusaders, taken up the responsibilities of restoring political stability, social harmony and above all the sanity of a nation
Read More
|
|
|
|
email alert
or subscribe to the 
RSS feed.
