scholarly journals Himalayan misconceptions and distortions: What are the facts?

1970 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 15-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack D Ives
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
Cautionary Tale ◽  
Outburst Floods ◽  
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods ◽  
Theory Of Everything ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Politics ◽  
Scientific Attention

Himalayan Delusions: Who’s kidding who and why — Science at the service of media, politics and the development agencies. EDITOR’S NOTE: Jack Ives’ article, drawn from his new book Himalayan Perceptions, is a cautionary tale that might almost be read as a gloss on Peter Weingart’s “Moment of truth for science” (see page 11-14). Ives begins by recounting the life and times of the “Theory of Himalayan Environmental Degradation,” a grossly exaggerated but convenient “theory of everything” that suited almost everybody’s agenda — from the media (always hungry for neatly packaged disaster scenarios), to the politicians (happy to point fingers conveniently away from their own failings), to the developers (ready and willing to focus their energies in the pleasant hills of Nepal rather than the steamy lowlands of Bangladesh and India), to the scientists (eager for fame and funding). True to Weingart’s prediction, there was a scientific reaction to the alarmist theories: the Mohonk Conference successfully rallied a generation of “montologists” to investigate critically the bases for predictions of Himalayan deforestation and subcontinental flooding. As a result, the theory was effectively debunked. Unfortunately, it seems to rear its head now and then — most notably in China. And, even more unfortunately, there seems to be a ready supply of successor theories. One media favorite is the impending catastrophic collapse of glacial lakes swollen by glaciers retreating in the face of global warming. Let’s hope that Weingart’s optimism is justified: melting glaciers and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) obviously deserve scientific attention. The question is, will the media and politicians pay any attention at all if researchers predict something less than a super-catastrophe? Himalayan Journal of Sciences 3(5) 2005 p.15-25

scholarly journals Cenas da precariedade de ontem e de hoje | Scenes of the precariousness of yesterday and today

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-92
Author(s):  
José Edilson Amorim
Keyword(s):  
Working Class ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Rio De Janeiro ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
The World ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Politics

ResumoA partir de uma crônica de Bráulio Tavares, este artigo reflete sobre cenas da precariedade de ontem e de hoje. A primeira cena está em Lima Barreto, em Recordações do escrivão Isaías Caminha, ao referir a Revolta da Vacina no Rio de Janeiro do século XX, comparada às manifestações de 2013 e 2014 no país; a segunda é a espetacularização da mídia sobre as manifestações de rua em 2013 e 2014, e sobre o processo de impedimento do mandato presidencial de Dilma Rousseff em 2015; a terceira é uma cena da vida cotidiana de uma moça de Brasília em outubro de 2014. As três situações revelam o mundo da classe trabalhadora e seu desamparo em meio ao espetáculo midiático.Palavras-chave: Trabalho. Mídia. Política. Espetáculo. AbstractFrom a chronicle by Bráulio Tavares, this paper reflects about scenes of the precariousness of yesterday and today. The first scene is in Lima Barreto’s novel Recordações do escrivão Isaías Caminha (Memories of the scrivener Isaías Caminha), when referring to the Vaccine Revolt in the Rio de Janeiro of the 20th century, compared to the manifestations of 2013 and 2014 in Brazil; the second is about the media spectacularization of the street manifestations between 2013 e 2014 in Brazil, and also on Dilma Rousseff's impeachment process in 2015; the third one is from the everyday life of a girl from Brasília in October of 2014. All those three situations reveal the world of the working class and its helplessness in the face of the media spectacularization.Keywords: Work. Media. Politics. Spectacle.

scholarly journals Glacier lake outburst floods of the Guangxieco Lake in 1988 in Tibet, China

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (5) ◽  
pp. 4605-4634 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J. Liu ◽  
Z. L. Cheng ◽  
Y. Li
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Debris Flow ◽  
Satellite Images ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Viscous Debris Flow ◽  
Outburst Floods ◽  
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods ◽  
Ice Avalanche ◽  
Archive Material

Abstract. Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) have become more frequent and attracted more and more attention under conditions of global warming. However, there are few observations of the reasons for outbursts and their processes because of their unexpected occurrence and their inaccessible location in high-elevation areas. The GLOF of the Guangxieco Lake, which is the only outburst lake below an elevation of 4000 m in Tibet, provides a case study for discussing the reasons for outbursts. This paper reconstructs the process in detail using geomorphological evidence, interviews of the local inhabitants, archive material and satellite images. It was found that: (1) There were three main reasons for the GLOF in 1988: intense pre-precipitation and persistent high temperatures before the outburst, ice avalanche by rapid movement of the Gongzo Glacier and low self-stability of the end-moraine dam by perennial piping. (2) The GLOF with the peak discharge of 1270 m3 s-1 was evolved along the Midui Valley following sediment-laden flow–non-viscous debris flow–viscous debris flow–non-viscous debris flow–sediment-laden flood. Eventually the sediment-laden floods blocked the Palongzangbu River. (3) Comparing the conditions for the outburst in 1988 and at present, the possibility of a future outburst is thought to be small unless the glacier moves rapidly again.

scholarly journals Understanding Climate Change Adaptation Issues in Nepal

1970 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 138-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ngamindra Dahal
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Local Effects ◽  
Glacial Retreat ◽  
Critical Areas ◽  
Outburst Floods ◽  
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods ◽  
Key Words Climate Change

Nepal has observed trend of annual increase in temperature per decade by 0.41°C which is much higher than global average. Climate change is relatively new challenge of global scale but have strong local effects. The evidences of the global warming and climate change are more prominent on the Himalayan region of the globe with melting of ice, glacier retreat, and worst of all the incidence of glacial lake outburst floods with the aftermath falling directly on the ecosystem. The most critical areas are the resource poor developing countries like Nepal which are first to face this calamity yet helpless to implement any concrete ideas still. Nepal has to develop its mechanism to disseminate information regarding climate change and its rational use in planning and implementing policy processes with simultaneous approach on the research to follow the trend of climate change. Thus, this paper focuses on Nepal strategies to cope with challenges of climate change keeping in view the shifting focus of global climate policy. Key Words: Climate change, Global warming, Glacial retreat, Depleting ice, Ecosystem DOI: 10.3126/init.v2i1.2536 The Initiation Vol.2(1) 2008 pp138-144

scholarly journals THIS IS NOT A WASTE PLANET; THE PARTICIPATION OF HUMAN GENDER IN THE FACE OF ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION

2021 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 49-66
Author(s):  
Oscar Samario Hernandez ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Community Organizations ◽  
Blue Color ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Media

This year the international community recalled under a common celebration about the achievement of humanity that managed to put man on Earth's satellite; Moon. On July 20, 1969 the media reported this event, this year is still remembered, but it is also news that from the photographs sent by the Apollo missions taken from the space in which the splendor of the Earth with its characteristic blue color, we call it the Great Blue Marble, the home of humanity today at risk of threat from pollution, the scientific community, organizations and international organizations have warned of the consequences and risks if this deterioration continues. This work is a recognition of this concern, but it is also a call to the responsibility of mankind to act in the face of the imminent danger of climate change.

scholarly journals Observed and simulated winter temperature over Gurudongmar area, North Sikkim, India

MAUSAM ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-124
Author(s):  
BARAT ARCHISMAN ◽  
SARTHI P PARTH ◽  
KUMAR SUNNY ◽  
KUMAR PRAVEEN ◽  
SINHA ASHUTOSH K
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Surface Air Temperature ◽  
Eastern Himalaya ◽  
Future Time ◽  
Cold Desert ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Outburst Floods ◽  
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods ◽  
Future Time Period ◽  
Area North

The global warming and its impact on the cryosphere is a matter of serious concern. The Sikkim and the Eastern Himalaya are a canvas of vivid landscapes and of different climate zones. The study of cryosphere needs more attention on long term climatic trends of surface air temperature. The Gurudongmar area is very much important because this area is surrounded by glaciers and as well as cold desert and TsoLhamo Lake nearby. The Gurudongmar lake (located at an altitude of 17,800 ft) has been studied by several researchers in the context of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) and reported a high risk lake which is being largely affected by global warming and climate change. The present study is aimed to investigate the trend of temperature in recent past and in future time periods over the study area of Sikkim. The observed and model’s simulated gridded temperature data is considered to inkling of rising trend in winter months of December-January-February (DJF) over the study area. An increase in temperature is found for the future time period. This can be linked to the increasing hazard risk and change in local cryosphere environment.

UTILIZATION OF RAWAPENING PEAT FOR NUTRIENT BLOCK AS A MEDIA NURSERIES Anthocephalus cadaba and Paraserianthes falcataria

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Hanggari Sittadewi., dkk
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Physical Properties ◽  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
Leaf Growth ◽  
Rehabilitation Program ◽  
Paraserianthes Falcataria ◽  
Land Rehabilitation ◽  
Mining Areas ◽  
Growing Medium ◽  
The Media

Nutrient Block is a growing medium product in the form of a square (25 x 25 cm) or cylindrical (diameter = 20 cm, height = 25 cm) made of peat which has been composted, plus adhesive gypsum or tapioca waste. Nutrient Block is designed to support the post mining land rehabilitation program that is now threatening the environmental degradation in mining areas. Nutrient Block products has been proved good for growth because of the media in addition to having physical properties that are capable of storing large amounts of water, contain enough nutrients in the form available to plants,so it can support plant growth. Results of the Nutrient Block application test to Jabon (Anthocephalus cadaba) and Sengon (Paraserianthes falcataria) plants showed that good performance, both plant height and diameter of trees and leaf growth in plants Jabon appear healthy and getting wider.keywords: nutrient block, post-mining land rehabilitation. Paraserianthes falcataria, Anthocephalus cadaba

Filthy Material

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Forster
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
New Media ◽  
Twentieth Century Literature ◽  
Modernist Literature ◽  
Literary Value ◽  
Radclyffe Hall ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
The Face ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Media

Modernist literature is inextricable from the history of obscenity. The trials of such figures as James Joyce, D. H. Lawrence, and Radclyffe Hall loom large in accounts of twentieth-century literature. Filthy Material: Modernism and the Media of Obscenity reveals the ways that debates about obscenity and literature were shaped by changes in the history of media. The emergence of film, photography, and new printing technologies shaped how “literary value” was understood, altering how obscenity was defined and which texts were considered obscene. Filthy Material rereads the history of modernist obscenity to discover the role played by technological media in debates about obscenity. The shift from the intense censorship of the early twentieth century to the effective “end of obscenity” for literature at the middle of the century was not simply a product of cultural liberalization but also of a changing media ecology. Filthy Material brings together media theory and archival research to offer a fresh account of modernist obscenity with novel readings of works of modernist literature. It sheds new light on figures at the center of modernism’s obscenity trials (such as Joyce and Lawrence), demonstrates the relevance of the discourse of obscenity to understanding figures not typically associated with obscenity debates (such as T. S. Eliot and Wyndham Lewis), and introduces new figures to our account of modernism (such as Norah James and Jack Kahane). It reveals how modernist obscenity reflected a contest over the literary in the face of new media technologies.

Innovationsmotor Medientechnik – Von der Schreibmaschine zur «Mittleren Datentechnik» bei der Siemag Feinmechanische Werke (1950 bis 1969)

2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-117
Author(s):  
Christian Henrich-Franke
Keyword(s):  
Data Processing ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Strategic Decisions ◽  
Adverse Conditions ◽  
Family Enterprise ◽  
The Us ◽  
Innovative Products ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Media ◽  
The 1960S

Abstract The second half of the 20th century is commonly considered to be a time in which German companies lost their innovative strength, while promising new technologies presented an enormous potential for innovation in the US. The fact that German companies were quite successful in the production of medium data technology and had considerable influence on the development of electronic data processing was neglected by business and media historians alike until now. The article analyses the Siemag Feinmechanische Werke (Eiserfeld) as one of the most important producers of the predecessors to said medium data technologies in the 1950s and 1960s. Two transformation processes regarding the media – from mechanic to semiconductor and from semiconductor to all-electronic technology – are highlighted in particular. It poses the question of how and why a middling family enterprise such as Siemag was able to rise to being the leading provider for medium data processing office computers despite lacking expertise in the field of electrical engineering while also facing difficult location conditions. The article shows that Siemag successfully turned from its roots in heavy industry towards the production of innovative high technology devices. This development stems from the company’s strategic decisions. As long as their products were not mass-produced, a medium-sized family business like Siemag could hold its own on the market through clever decision-making which relied on flexible specialization, targeted license and patent cooperation as well as innovative products, even in the face of adverse conditions. Only in the second half of the 1960s, as profit margins dropped due to increasing sales figures and office machines had finally transformed into office computers, Siemag was forced to enter cooperation with Philips in order to broaden its spectrum and merge the production site in Eiserfeld into a larger business complex.

scholarly journals Simulation and Assessment of Future Glacial Lake Outburst Floods in the Poiqu River Basin, Central Himalayas

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1376
Author(s):  
Taigang Zhang ◽  
Weicai Wang ◽  
Tanguang Gao ◽  
Baosheng An
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Hazard Assessment ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Glacial Lakes ◽  
Central Himalayas ◽  
Outburst Floods ◽  
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods ◽  
Social And Economic Development ◽  
Glacial Lake Outburst Flood

A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) is a typical glacier-related hazard in high mountain regions. In recent decades, glacial lakes in the Himalayas have expanded rapidly due to climate warming and glacial retreat. Some of these lakes are unstable, and may suddenly burst under different triggering factors, thus draining large amounts of water and impacting downstream social and economic development. Glacial lakes in the Poiqu River basin, Central Himalayas, have attracted great attention since GLOFs originating there could have a transboundary impact on both China and Nepal, as occurred during the Cirenmaco GLOF in 1981 and the Gongbatongshaco GLOF in 2016. Based on previous studies of this basin, we selected seven very high-risk moraine-dammed lakes (Gangxico, Galongco, Jialongco, Cirenmaco, Taraco, Beihu, and Cawuqudenco) to simulate GLOF propagation at different drainage percentage scenarios (i.e., 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%), and to conduct hazard assessment. The results show that, when any glacial lake is drained completely or partly, most of the floods will enter Nepal after raging in China, and will continue to cause damage. In summary, 57.5 km of roads, 754 buildings, 3.3 km2 of farmland, and 25 bridges are at risk of damage due to GLOFs. The potentially inundated area within the Chinese part of the Poiqu River basin exceeds 45 km2. Due to the destructive impacts of GLOFs on downstream areas, appropriate and effective measures should be implemented to adapt to GLOF risk. We finally present a paradigm for conducting hazard assessment and risk management. It uses only freely available data and thus is easy to apply.

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