In order to preserve the majesty of the Himalayas along with its biodiversity and benefits there are a multitude of behaviors that people will need to change. First and foremost involves land practices. Due to the fact that the majority of people living around the Himalayas are impoverished and live at a subsistence level, there is a competitive mindset about the resources; people will take as much as they can get without thinking about the long-term impacts. As a result, the first step that could be taken to improve the situation is educating populations on sustainable land use practices in conjunction with using environmentally friendly technologies. Furthermore, there will need to be restoration projects on many of the areas that have been demolished before there is nothing left to save. With the implementation of these practices, agricultural land could hopefully be restored and reused rather than plowing down more forest to create space. Additionally, family planning programs would inflict massive progress in terms of reducing the population back down to carrying capacity as that is where the majority of these problems arose from in the first place .
(The Northern Himalayan People)
As with many other problems worldwide, emissions must be reduced to appease the glacial melting. Only a reduction in pollutants will restore the glacial albedo and provide future water security. This transition would include drastically reducing oil and coal consumption in favor of renewable sources such as wind and solar (Wang, 2007). Because much of the Himalayan range borders China, this will be no easy feat. However if governments and citizens work together with the realization that there is nothing more precious than water security, the rate of glacial melting could at least be reduced.
No comments:
Post a Comment