Language: English
Geodynamic processes during the rapid growth of the Himalayas have left imprints of climate change in this region. Climate Change & Himalayan Informatics examines the impact of climate change on the ongoing process of rapid urbanization of the hinterlands of the Himalayas. It consists four sections and seventeen chapters. The mass balance of glaciers in the Chandra basin of the Himalayas is presented as a predictive tool for spatially distributed estimates of mass balance of glaciers. An effective tool to identify and locate multiple natural hazards due to climate change in the Himalayas, especially landslides and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF), is part of the book. Impacts of climate change on cropping strategies by mountain communities are described in the session “socio-economic perspectives”. Information on ecologically and economically important plant species in the Himalayas that have a greater tolerance to drought, discussed in this book, are significant in the global perspectives on global warming. A specific species is identified as an indicator of climate change for the Eastern Himalayas. Climatic impacts on different regional ecosystems of the Himalayas have had implications for ecological, cultural and socio economic processes there. A multidimensional decision support system is essential for mitigation of and adaptation to such implications. The present book consists of studies from northern to eastern parts of the Himalayas. This will be beneficial to researchers, students, managers and administrators associated with this mountain ecosystem.