TY - BOOK AU - Pandit,Maharaj K. TI - Life in the Himalaya: an ecosystem at risk SN - 9780674971745 AV - QH193.H5 P36 2017 U1 - 333.72095496 23 PY - 2017/// CY - Cambridge, Massachusetts PB - Harvard University Press KW - Nature KW - Effect of human beings on KW - Himalaya Mountains Region KW - Sustainability KW - Ecosystem management KW - Environmental conditions N1 - Includes bibliographical references (pages 303-350) and index; Prologue: Past as precursor of future -- Part One. Natural phase: The Himalayan memoir -- Tectonic serendipity -- International biological highway -- The flux of life -- Part Two. Cultural phase: The first axe -- The Chipko saga -- Part Three. Mechanical phase: The first train to Lhasa -- Dam rivers damn rivers -- The payback time -- Part Four. Networking phase: Towards sustainability -- Individuals, institutions and ideals N2 - Life in the Himalaya explores the interconnectedness between geophysical and biological components of the mountain and its relation to the sustainability of human activities in the region. At the end of glacial age, the Himalayan landscape was significantly transformed by humans; today nearly one-fourth of the world population inhabits the Himalayan river basins. With the unfolding of burgeoning human population, urbanization, geo-politics of militarization, automobile revolution, tourism and dam-building, the Himalaya is an ecosystem at risk where human communities suffer recurrent natural disasters. The book comprehensively reviews Himalaya's past and present and suggests a future of sustainable living. To achieve this, human communities must operate within the region's carrying capacity that is based on Himalaya's geological vulnerability, ecological fragility and human cultural sensitivity.-- ER -