Western disturbances have a long history of climatological, synoptic and satellite observations based studies. In present study an attempt has been made to understand the different aspects of western disturbances like movement, associated convection, induce systems and associated weather. The western disturbances (WDs) during post monsoon and winter season have been selected for the study as they are mainly responsible for precipitation over western Himalayan region and adjoining plains of northwest India.
How well do the IPCC-AR4 models simulate the observed 20th century warming as well as its future projection over the Western Himalayan region of India? - A presentation by Dr. L. Das and M. Dutta at the 4th National Research Conference on Climate Change, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, October 26-27, 2013.
Forests meet 40% of the energy needs of India and about 30% of fodder needs of the cattle population. Agriculture along with animal husbandry is the principal occupation and source of livelihood for over 70% of the population of Western Himalaya. Like with other high-altitude communities, animal husbandry is practised by the locals. Collection of fodder is the first step that turns the wheel of agricultural economy in states across the Indian Himalayan region. (Correspondence)
The present study tested the hypothesis that "game species are lost when forest areas are subjected to hunting and populations of already threatened species may become locally extinct from many forests of the Western Indian Himalaya". The study was designed to determine effects of vegetation structure and heterogeneity, and behaviour of animal species on their encounters in hunted and protected sites.
The present study was carried out in parts of a protected area of Garhwal Himalaya, namely, Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary (KWLS). The main aim of the study was to gather and analyze information from the sanctuary dwellers on conservation of natural resources and its value focusing on the needs of local inhabitants.
Glaciers of the Himalaya contribute significantly in the processes linking atmosphere, biosphere and hydrosphere, thus need to be monitored in view of the climatic variations. In this direction, many studies have been carried out during the last two decades and satellite-based multispectral data have been used extensively for this purpose throughout the world.
The article highlights the regression models to estimate the biomass of twelve shrub species commonly found in the Western Himalaya. After analysis it was found that for most of the species log linear and curvilinear prediction equation gave coefficient of determination with higher value which show the fitness of the equation to precision.
This correspondence refers to a recent note about monitoring alpine treeline in the Western Himalaya and few other
recent studies on the same aspect. Alpine zones in the Himalayas are the highest vegetation zones where seedbearing plants are found, but tree growth is excluded. Upper and lower boundaries of alpine zones are traditionally set as
Pollen record of an AMS radiocarbon dated lacustrine sediment profile underlying the Chandra peat deposit in Himachal Pradesh, yielded signatures of the globally reported Younger Dryas (YD) cold event. This report of the YD event in NW Himalaya, substantiated by mineral magnetic variations, also records significant wet and warm conditions prior to 12,880 cal yrs BP, depicting the Ållerød interstadial preceding YD.
The IPCC in its Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) described the Himalayan Region as data-deficient in terms of climate monitoring. This is a serious impediment to global research initiatives and thus necessitates long-term ecological monitoring (LTEM) across the Himalaya. Being governed by low temperature conditions, the high-altitude regions in Himalaya are more responsive to changing environmental conditions and hence serve as better indicators.
