Indian Wildlife Club Forum

.............very high amounts of rain, snowmelt, or both lead to floods. All the land that drains downhill into rivers—or into the streams and tributaries that eventually join the river—is called a watershed. When that watershed receives a lot of rain, the river will rise higher than its banks and spread out into the floodplain, which is the name for low lying areas along a river.

But what most people don’t realize is that floods are not some departure from the way a river is “supposed” to behave – witness the common description in the press of a river “bursting from its banks” during a flood, like a convict breaking out of jail. The river and floodplain are actually one single highway for moving water downstream (and not just water, but also sediment, which is why the Missouri River is nicknamed the “Big Muddy.”) It’s just that the floodplain part of this highway is dry much or most of the time...............

....on average, natural rivers will spread out onto their floodplains anywhere from once a year to once every 3 years....Floodplains themselves are part of the solution............
Strategic designation of such floodways, with policies that compensate people who live within them, can be critical to reducing the damage of massive floods. We also need to make these floodways more “flood-proof.” For example, there may be ways to develop crops that are more tolerant of floodwater. ......Read more at

http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/habitats/riverslakes/why-rivers-flood-andhow-to-reduce-risk.xml

or at

http://tinyurl.com/4y6as9s
[Open in new window]

"Man-animal (anthropogenic) conflict in India is taking a heavy toll on habitat

and thereby the survival of wildlife. Habitat fragmentation is leading to

isolation of animals, inbreeding, and causing local extinction of such

species. If wildlife are restricted in their movements and in their sociology

(mating patterns and territoriality) it will lead to inbreeding, further

weakening the genetic pool. This applies to all endangered birds, reptiles,

insects, and mammals.

In early 2010 there was an official alert that 1000 tigers were reduced to

skin and bone since the last census of 2008. The 2008 census said there

1411 tigers remaining. Only 50 percent are females. Of these there are

many which are old and frail, and are not breeding any more. Many other

males are of the same bloodline so mating is impossible. Genetic

inbreeding amongst felines is one of the greatest threats to tiger numbers.

Taking all this into account, only 1/3rd of the 1000 odd tiger population in

India are fit to breed."-Malini Shankar

Read More at

http://www.indiatogether.org/2011/feb/env-manimal.htm

The once-exotic bird is becoming a notorious pest as it enjoys a population

explosion in many London suburbs.

"There is wide agreement that the Adams and Eves behind the current

population boom did not fly here from Asia or Africa but escaped from

British pet cages or were intentionally released by their owners. The great

mystery is what allowed the parakeets to procreate with such phenomenal

success just in the past decade."

Read more at the link
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/14/science/earth/14parakeet.html?_r=3
or
http://tinyurl.com/5us2w4y

"Most glaciers are melting, they are retreating; some glaciers, like the Siachen glacier, are advancing. But overall one can say incontrovertibly that the debris on our glaciers is very high, the snow balance is very low. We have to be very cautious because of the water security, particularly in north India, which depends on the health of the Himalayan glaciers," says Jairam Ramesh, Minister for Environment, India.

The new National Institute of Himalayan Glaciology is based in Dehradun, in Uttarakhand, and will monitor glacial changes and compare results with those from glaciers in Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan.

India has launched the Indian Network on Comprehensive Climate Change Assessment (INCCA)," the Minister said. It will bring together 125 research institutions throughout India, work with international bodies and operate as a "sort of Indian IPCC," he added. The body will publish its own climate assessment in November, 2011, with reports on the Himalayas, India's long coastline, the Western Ghat highlands, and the north-eastern region close to the borders with Bangladesh, Burma, China and Nepal.

Mountaintop removal coal mining is changing the American landscape on a scale that is hard to comprehend unless you see it from the air. Anyone who has ever flown in a small aircraft over southern West Virginia or eastern Kentucky will never forget the experience of seeing the massive scale of destruction - mountain after mountain blown up and dumped into valleys as far as the eye can see. Mountaintop removal affects more than mountains and streams, however; it is threatening to displace and destroy a distinctly American culture that has persisted in the Appalachian Mountains for generations. Appalachian people working to save their communities have long dreamed of ways to fly reporters, decision-makers, and thousands of other Americans over the Appalachian coalfields to see this destruction first hand - and then to visit their communities to hear stories of people who endure the consequences of what some have called "cheap energy."

Read more at the Link
http://earth.google.com/outreach/cs_app_voices.html