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Thar Desert in India is one of the most well-investigated and densely populated regions amongst the world arid zones. A blend of crop and animal husbandries, conservative land use practices, coping mechanisms to minimize adverse effect of drought and a frugal lifestyle have been the characteristic features of its dwellers. Recent increase in biotic pressure has interacted with the fragile environment to create fearsome environmental problems. Governmental responses were prompt in form creating a strong research infrastructure for multi-disciplinary and multi-location research and demonstration on the one hand and in huge investment in irrigation from internally and externally sourced water, desertification control program and an accelerated socio-economic and infrastructure development, softening content of drought and strengthening of livelihoods on the other. Unlike several publications on the Thar, the current effort attempts a comprehensive, pragmatic and off-beat analysis of various developments and goes further to show how the situation today is a blend of both resource degradation and economic development. Recent studies have helped rebuild the past climate history that shows that the climate has been fluctuating during the geological history but reports suggest also that current anthropogenic global warming makes the desert more vulnerable in near future. An attempt has been made also to peep into the future of the Thar.
This edited volume is devoted to the examination of the implications of the inevitable changes wrought by global change on the welfare and livelihoods of tens of millions of people who live in dryland regions. Global change is more than just climate change and the ramifications of changing trade patterns (geopolitical and economic aspects), the shift to the market economy, demographic factors (population growth, urbanization and re-settlement), receive attention here. Land use change specialists, policy makers and natural resource management agencies will find the book very useful. Chapters focus on examples that are drawn from a number of sources including previously unpublished studies on the impact of climate change, markets and economics on pastoralist and dryland farming households. The key focus is to provide readers with insights into the real world implications of change (including an analysis of the drivers of change) on these vulnerable groups within dryland societies. The role of humans as agents of these changes is canvassed. A regional analysis of the world's drylands is also performed including those in Australia, Argentina, India, North America, China, North Africa, Central Asia and Southern Africa.
This book in two volumes, and with a foreword by the renowned Professor M.A.J. Williams, draws on evidence from coastal and inland regions, including desert dunes, wind-blown dust, river and lake sediments, glacial moraines, plant and animal fossils, isotope geochemistry, soils and prehistoric archaeology to better understand the genesis and development of dunes systems in selected northern hemisphere sand dunes from Asia, Africa and the Middle East regions. The collection of research papers and case studies that are presented in this book provide the reader with a wealth of information about the distribution and types of sand dunes and an insight into the complexity of sand dune formation, migration and management. Research in many countries across the northern hemisphere shows that dunes, whether coastal or inland, are under pressure around the world. Much of the pressure comes from human activities, and the anthropogenic disturbance, when coupled with global warming and alterations to the amount, frequency and temporal distribution of precipitation could lead to more serious management challenges in the future. There is much that we still need to find out about the origin, genesis and development of sand dunes so that they can be managed better. The difficult and complex questions being repeatedly raised can be answered only by interdisciplinary endeavours. Geomorphologists, geologists, palaeontologists, climatologists, ecologists, and others, can work together on research projects that better define the origin, evolution and development of dunes, both inland and along the coasts. Many chapters in this book attempt to reconstruct past climatic changes in deserts and their margins at a variety of scales in space and time in the expectation that such information might assist in preparing us for future global warming and drying.
The book attempts to match user need to the level of technology required for management, planning and monitoring of natural resources. It provides clear guidance on the reliability, accuracy and cost of applications. Editors believe that this endeavour shall provide a valuable scientific basis to students and researchers to address the future challenges in natural resources monitoring and management. Accurate inventory, assessment and periodic monitoring of resources will enable the policy makers to keep an eye on optimal utilization of resources and development process to take timely interventions. We further hope this book will be a valuable reference and provide practical guidance for all who work towards the goal of the sustainable and judicious use of resources.
This volume examines how local communities respond and adapt to ecological changes and disasters resulting from climate change. The main aim of the book is to understand the range of human responses to ecological change and to contextualise the reasons for adopting any particular adaptive strategy by a community. Through the help of specific case studies presented as individual chapters, the book aims to find out whether adaptation due to environmental stress is an individual decision and, therefore, is an isolated phenomenon, or if resilience and adaptation are part of the same action paradigm of society as a whole in response to environmental change. Of particular interest are the case studies of climate change or disasters that have rendered the site unsuitable for the return of its community at present, and thus necessitated the relocation of such communities to new locations. The case studies in the book focus on regions in India, but cover different parts of the world as well, and address concepts of resilience, vulnerability, risk, adaptation, and mitigation. The book will be useful for students and researchers in the fields of geography, disaster management, environmental science, and anthropology.
Deserts appear very fascinating during our short visits. However, the lives of plants and animals are very dif?cult under the harsh climatic conditions of high tempe- ture and scant water supply in deserts, sometimes associated with high concent- tions of salt. The editor of this book was born and brought up in the Great Indian Desert, and has spent much of his life studying the growth and metabolism of desert plants. It is very charming on a cool summer evening to sit at the top of a sand dune listening only to blowing air and nothing else. It has been my dream to prepare a volume on desert plants encompassing various aspects of desert plant biology. In this book, I have tried to present functional and useful aspects of the vegetation resources of deserts along with scienti?c input aimed at understanding and impr- ing the utility of these plants. The scant vegetation of deserts supports animal life and provides many useful medicines, timber and fuel wood for humans. Therefore, there are chapters devoted to medicinal plants (Chap. 1), halophytes (Chaps. 13, 14), and fruit plants (Chaps. 17, 20). Desert plants have a unique reproductive biology (Chaps. 9–11), well-adapted eco-physiological and anatomical charact- istics (Chap. 7), and specialised metabolism and survival abilities. These plants are dif?cult to propagate and pose many problems to researchers developing biote- nological approaches for their amelioration (Chaps. 18–20).
This book incorporate papers describing new and exciting results and timely reviews integrating an immense amount of knowledge in the field. Frontiers of Earth Science, the inter-and intra-disciplinary volume sets out to imbibes sixty selectively invited research papers from distinguished earth scientists. The volume incorporate sections on Mineral deposits, Climate Change and Environment, Remote Sensing, Stratigraphy and Palaeobiology, Petrology, Groundwater and Seismology and Tectonics. The book is an everlasting and invaluable documents and reference for academia, industry and planners specialized in the field of the Earth Science and for those who need updated information of current research. The volume will also be equally significant for advance level students and research scholars throughout the world.
Rapidly shrinking biodiversity resources now have vital linkages to sustainability of climate and habitable environment; unsustainability of agriculture and decline in socio-economics of human values. This book considers the history of Planet Earth, formation of the continents, origin, and evolution of Life from the beginning till the present. The present status of management of agricultural production systems, Integrated Pest Management, genetically modified crops and organic agriculture besides the future role of pesticide industry in promoting holistic agriculture and conservation of natural biodiversity resources have also been discussed. Social impact of shrinkage of biodiversity resources beyond the biological means of their renewal together with the neglect of basic human rights to food, nutrition and health security have been discussed. A new beginning and agenda for future development of biodiversity resources have been proposed.
The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 has identified four priority areas for Disaster Risk Reduction: understanding disaster risk; strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk; investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience and enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response; and to "Build Back Better" in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction. Although tremendous progress has been made in recent decades in understanding the workings of the Earth systems and, in particular, its impacts on and responses to human actions, there remains a continuing and pressing need for knowledge that will allow society to simultaneously reduce exposure to global environmental hazards, while also meeting economic development goals. Exploring Natural Hazards: A Case Study Approach, contributes to the knowledge showcasing advanced practices for the monitoring of natural hazards. Through each case study, the book examines mainly hazards arising from processes within the hydrosphere and atmosphere, triggered or exacerbated by inputs to and transfers of energy between environmental components. It discusses the causes of these phenomena, and ways in which improved policy making, sometimes coupled with the application of appropriate modern technologies, can help to reduce people’s exposure to harm. Discussing challenges, lessons learned and recommendations, this book provides a snapshot of issues related to tropical cyclones and typhoons, desertification, floods, lightning as a hazard and the need for alert systems. It is a valuable resource for practitioners and professionals alike, for researchers, students and others who work at the intersection between environmental hazards, sustainable development and social justice.