Presentation

To view our slide show on South Asia and the issues they are dealing with, click the link below:

South Asia Powerpoint

Final Statement

Overall South Asia is not a main contributor to climate change, they are currently suffering from other world region's decisions. They are doing what they can to reduce poverty and natural disasters, but they cannot do it alone. Governments in South Asia most definitely need to step up and concentrate more on their poverty-stricken areas, and less on expanding urbanization. Their priorities need to shift to dealing with problems in the slums, but even they cannot change everything. To make any drastic change it will take a world movement and cooperation to make a change that will benefit the whole world.

Age Pyramid

Sri Lanka
http://tfw.cachefly.net/snm/images/nm/pyramids/ce-2010.png

Population : 20,303,477 
Life Expectancy: 71.4 years
Infant Mortality: 12.7 per 1,000 live births

India
http://tfw.cachefly.net/snm/images/nm/pyramids/in-2010.png

Infant mortality: 50.3 per 1,000 live births
Life Expectancy: 63.7 years
Population: 1,155,347,678
Pakistan
http://tfw.cachefly.net/snm/images/nm/pyramids/pk-2010.png

Population : 162,220,762
Life Expectancy: 66.1 years
Infant Mortality: 41.2 per 1,000 live births
Bhutan
http://tfw.cachefly.net/snm/images/nm/pyramids/bt-2010.png

Population : 697,335
Life Expectancy:66.1 years
Infant Mortality: 52.4 per 1,000 live births

child mortality rates

We chose to share a graph portraying child mortality rates in South Asia. There seems to be a steady increase in life expectancy along with steady decrease child mortality rates.

Infant Mortality

Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliographies

1. Hoekstra, A.Y. and A.K. Chapagain. “ Water Footprints of Nations : Water Use by    People            as a Function of their Consumption Patterns.” Water Resources        Management 21, no. 1 (2007) : 2

This journal article provides information about the water footprints of different nations and it also compares the nations against each other with detailed graphs and tables. The many ways water is used is also mentioned in this article with people using both blue water and green water. Blue water is the water that is taken from underground aquifers and surface water, while green water is the moisture left over in the soil. India is one of eight countries that make up fifty percent of the worlds total water footprint which is 1240 m3 /cap/yr. India has the largest impact of seventeen percent, but most of this seventeen percent comes from the trading of virtual water, only thirteen percent of India’s water footprint comes from the residents.

This journal article is a reliable, peer – reviewed source about the water footprints of different nations because it was found using the PSU database. Even though this article is from 2005, the authors concentrated on a problem that very few people were interested in and now it is a main concern for many around the world, because the world is running out of water.

         (Nicole Colello)

2. Rain, David R., John F, Long and Michael R. Ratcliffe. “Measuring Population Pressure on the Landscape: Comparative GIS Studies in China, India, and the United States.” Population and Environment 28, no 6 (2007) : 321 – 336.

This article provides information about the effects that are caused by the human population in China, India and the United States, the world’s three most populated countries. The populations of the three cities in the three countries were measured by LandScan techniques, based on the local population densities and urbanization. This source is valuable because it states the population densities of the three countries. The population density is the total population divided by the total area of land. China had a population density of 135 people per square kilometer, while the United States had only 30 people per square kilometer, and lastly India has a population density of 341 people per square kilometer. China’s population density is three times the world average, the US is surprisingly below the world average and India is eight times the world average.

This is a reliable, peer-reviewed source about India’s population because it came from the Population and Environment journal. The article provides information about the population density of India and compares it to that of China’s and the United States.

(Nicole Colello)

3. Rao, Mala. 2010. "The impact of climate change on health in India". Perspectives in            Public Health. 130 (1): 15-16.

This article provides useful information about the ways climate change is affecting India and the ways it is projected to affect India in the future. According to the article India is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, because of the geography of the country, diverse population and strong dependence on fossil fuels. Climate change will have a major impact on the health of India’s residents because if the crops do not grow, then people will having nothing to eat and will go hungry. The health of the crops is also affecting many farmers’ lives, many farmers are committing suicide because they do not grow enough to sustain enough food and money for their families. Even though India is ranked third behind the United States and China in total volume of emissions, their goal is to lower their emissions to the same amount as developing countries. This resource is valuable because this article has lots of information on what the climate will do to India, mostly on the health of the residents, but the environment is also briefly covered.

This source is peer – reviewed and reliable because it was discovered using PSU’s WorldCat database by typing in keywords, India’s climate change

                                                                                                                    (Nicole Colello)

Culture of India

S. Radhakrishnan Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science Vol. 233, India Speaking (May, 1944), pp. 18-21 Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. in association with the American Academy of Political and Social Science Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1025817

                This article does a very good job at giving the reader an insight to the type of people that live in India. It is very descriptive and detailed about their belief systems. They are very spiritual people, and their views of others come from the goodness they have within rather then what they have done. They look for wisdom, experience, and a good heart. They believe that all life is holy. They also appreciate intelligence, and the sciences. The article later talks about India’s past oppression, and how it has had no influence on their belief system. 

This is a peer reviewed article and it was found on the scholarly search engine JSTOR, which hosts peer reviewed articles on the web.

(Rebecca Bitbol)

High-resolution Climate Change Scenarios for India for the 21st Century

Kumar, R. Rupa., A. K. Sahai, S. K. Patwardhan, P. K. Mishra, J. V. Revadekar,, K. Kamala, and G. B. Pant. "SPECIAL SECTION: CLIMATE CHANGE AND INDIA." High-resolution Climate Change Scenarios for India for the 21st Century. 10 Feb. 2006. Web. 1 Feb. 2010. <http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/feb102006/334.pdf>.

                This article gives a detailed approach to potential climate change scenarios, as the title says, for the future. It contains several detailed graphs showing temperature and rainfall predictions, which is the focus of this paper. These predictions span between the years of 1860, and 2100. The article discusses the increase in greenhouse gasses and Sulphate aerosols that are being released into the atmosphere, and as a result of this the in temperature and rainfall likeliness are to increase. It also states that night temperatures are found to be increasing at a higher rate than day temperatures. This article is very useful for those concerned with the future climate change in India. It processes very good evidence, as well as a detailed discussion about their findings.

This is a peer reviewed article and it was found on EBSCOhost. On this website it gives information regarding the article, and at the bottom of the page it articulates that it is a peer reviewed article.

UN Document

World Communications on Environment and Development. "Our Common Future, Chapter 9: The Urban Challenge - A/42/427 Annex, Chapter 9 - UN Documents: Gathering a Body of Global Agreements." UN Documents: Gathering a Body of Global Agreements. Hyperlinked Collection of More than 500 Key United Nations Documents. 24 Nov. 2010. Web. 13 Feb. 2011. <http://www.un-documents.net/ocf-09.htm#I.1>.

This document covers what they call, “the crisis in third world cities,” which they include India in. They talk about the expected increase of the percent of the populations that will be living in urban cities between the years of 1950 and 2000. It also talks about potential environmental problems within India, and how the Government needs to take a stand in helping with these situations. They believe that governments should partner with the developers of the cities and help with the future of development. Current development is expanding quickly, making the process very expensive. The article also talks about other harms of development which could be avoided. This article is useful because it discusses the implications of certain types of development that India is taking a part in.

This document was found on UN-Documents.net, a site that hosts government agreements on the web for the public to see.

(Rebecca Bitbol)

Irena Salina,  Flow: For the Love of Water documentary (September 2008)

This documentary is a media source as it pertains to current events concerning water. Part of our world region, India, is included in this documentary. India is mentioned in the documentary as having contaminated water throughout the whole country, so much so that 70,000 people died from drinking water in 2007 and thousands of people are continuing to die every year. Their water contains various diseases such as Cholera, but although people know this they cannot afford clean water so they have no choice but to drink from the contaminated streams and wells. I found this information to be of value because it is bringing attention to what is happening in India concerning their water and how it relates to the rest of the world. This information is extremely important because it does not only pertain to an area of India, but the whole country and how it is facing a water crisis that is resulting in thousands of deaths per year. I found this source to be reliable because within this one source, you are actually hearing from other sources as well. Different people are in the documentary sharing information, and a couple are living in India so they are providing information from personal experience.

(Stephanie McMahon)

South Asia CO2 emissions

2007 worldbook
Bangladesh= .28 per capita     Bhutan= .86 per capita     India= 1.43 per capita  Nepal= .12 per capita
Pakistan= .96 per capita   Sri Lanka= .61 per capita
Population                                                 ( Metric tons/year)
Bangladesh= .28x 162,220,762=                4,541,813.36
Bhutan= .86x 697,335=                              599,708.1
India= 1.43x 1,155,347,678=                    1,652,147,179.4
Nepal= .12x29,330,505=                          3,519,660.6     
Pakistan= .96x169,708,303=                   162,919,970.88            
SriLanka = .61x20,303,477=                  12,385,120.97      

4.26/G= .71 per capita                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Global Protocol/ Research Project

I.                    Contributions to Climate Change

All countries located in the South Asian region are in the process of development. They are dubbed “non-annex” countries under United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) standards and thus do not have any guidelines to follow when developing. Without these guidelines and restrictions countries are practicing unsustainable forms of development. India is expected to be one of the highest contributors in 2031, where they are expected to double in their greenhouse gas contribution.  Though some countries have begun limiting their population, some countries do not have these limits and continue to increase in numbers.

II.      South Asia is facing record high temperatures and rapidly rising sea levels caused by the quickly changing climate. These effects of the climate change affect everyone living in the cities and along the coast because it changes the economy, the environment and it also has a negative impact on peoples health.  The record high temperatures have taken many residents of India by surprise because they are not accustomed to living with scorching weather that makes it difficult to work outside, and they aren’t familiar with the effects of heat stroke. The hot and dry weather also makes growing crops very difficult because most famers rely on the weather to bring the rain to nourish their crops, without rain there is no crops and no money.

            Since most of South Asia has a long low lying costal area the people along the coast are very concerned with the rising sea levels that could drown their villages and towns. The earths’ climate is slowly getting warmer and causing the ice all over the world to quickly melt and in return is raising the ocean levels. If the ocean submerges the coast then millions of dollars of economic revenue are lost and even more lives are lost. Losing hundreds and thousands of lives shouldn’t be the effect of climate change, but it is the reality that we are slowly seeing.

III.

Solutions to solving these problems are still being discussed. With exports being South Asia’s largest contributor to climate change, it would be simple to say they should cut back. This region is still in the process of developing and is contingent on their exports for survival. Currently the Kyoto Protocol has been working since 1987 to monitor country’s carbon exchange and help minimize their carbon footprint. Created by the UNFCCC, they are working to bring the Kyoto Protocol to under-developed countries like Nepal. Nepal and some other countries in the region are supposed to adopt this protocol sometime in 2012.

India and Nepal

http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Climate+change+mitigation+strategy+&NewsID=274237

In 1994 the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) became active. Their main focuses are on controlling and stabilizing the amount of greenhouse gas that was being put into the atmosphere. They eventually want to bring it down to a safer level. The Kyoto protocol was enacted in 1997, and its target is to reduce the GHG emissions. This protocol follows the “the principal of “Common but differentiated responsibilities.” The countries that were included in this group were those that were highly industrialized, or were in transition to becoming industrialized. They were also referred to as Annex I countries. Nepal, which does not belong to the annex, does not have any legal commitment to what the UNFCCC had decided upon, however it has a “moral obligation to join hands with the international community to fight climate change problem.”

The Kyoto Protocol had one movement called the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Its main purpose is to make underdeveloped countries aware of the GHG emission target range, and help them develop certain procedures to safely develop their countries. There has recently been one climate change policy that has been finalized, but government of Nepal has yet to agree to it.

There are a few other recovery plans that are in the works, which would help countries develop their technology, financing and capacity-building, in a measurable, less harmful manner. It is believed that it is in Nepal’s best interest to develop an adaption program to deal with the changing climate. “The country should have strategy of leveraging potential carbon projects (CDM and or VCS) as earliest possible before adaptation of National Appropriate Mitigation Action to maximize the benefit from carbon market. To achieve this objective, three actions should be taken immediately in parallel: preparation of national climate change mitigation strategy; carry out sector-oriented baseline study (i.e. sector-wise GHG inventory) and capacity building for development, implementation and management of carbon projects.

Nepal will most likely enter into the protocol in 2012 when the new cycle of the protocol is enacted.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/india-second-in-world-for-natural-disasters-un/141401-2.html

                “India ranks second in the world for natural disasters.” They follow China, who is ranked number one in the world. India has failed to address the issues faced with their emissions and the changing climate. India has a total of 16 natural disasters that have occurred, following not that far behind China who has had 22.  The estimated cost of all natural disasters that occurred in 2010 was estimated to be $110 billion. China has experienced a higher death rate, and destruction to their property, as well as has seen an increase of earthquakes, landslides, and floods. Margareta Wahlstrom cautions that "weather-related disasters are sure to rise in the future, due to factors that include climate change. Other than the Haiti earthquake and the heat wave in Russia, other major disasters include the earthquake in China (estimate number of deaths 2,968), floods in Pakistan (1985 deaths), landslides in China (1765 people killed) and floods in China.” It is important for countries to start developing an adaption plan to deal with future unforeseen disasters due to the changing climate.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/07/world/asia/07kashmir.html?_r=1&ref=india

On August 6^th 2011, massive amounts of rain caused a mudslide in India, killing 125 people.  The location of the heavy rainfall was in Leh, which is the main city along the Himalayan border region of Ladakh. The village of Choglamsar, which is on the outskirts of this region, was hit especially hard. It is unknown how many people could be under the mud. Over 6,000 troops attempted to rescue the individuals trapped in the mud. About 125 bodies had been recovered, but the death toll is likely to increase since villages that were downstream of the mudslide had not yet been helped.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/05/world/asia/05flood.html?ref=nepal

August 5^th, 2007

On August 4^th, 2007 India was hit with a strong monsoon after heavy rainfall hit South Asia. Scientists believe that this “freak rain” is due to the present climate change. Weather scientists predict that the unnatural weather patterns, specifically the amount of rainfall that will visit South Asia, will increase over the years. More than half the districts in Bangladesh were under water during this time. About 58 people have been reported dead after the week’s heavy rainfall, and over a million families were affected by the flooding. Bangladesh was also affected by India’s overflowing rivers. Nepal’s southern plains were also put under water. “Nearly 10,000 people were displaced, and 84 had been killed, said Paul Handley, a field coordinator with the agency.” The United Nations has attempted to help Nepal in their time of need, with the heavy flooding, but their supplies have been tapped. “Pakistan has already had its turn with flooding. In July rains in Baluchistan and Sindh provinces, the death toll reached 329 and 90,000 families were made homeless, the United Nations said.”

In Silt, Bangladesh Sees Potential Shield Against Sea Level Rise

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/world/asia/20bangla.html?_r=2&ref=bangladesh

According to this article Bangladesh is one of the world's most vulnerable countries to climate change. It is very vulnerable because it has low lying coastal land and if the ocean rises just a little many towns and villages can be swallowed by the massive sea. To protect the low lying land people in Bangladesh are now using naturally found silt to slowly fill in dangerous living areas. Mr. Abdul Lateef and a few of his neighbors who live in Beel Bhaina discovered the silt potential when they punctured a hole in the mud embankment surrounding their village and watched as the water drained out and the silt got delivered by the high tide. In Beel Bhaina the silt has increased the land near the river bank about three feet and has made it suitable for the people of Beel Bhaina to grow things such as shrimp and fish, where as they couldn't cultivate before the silt increase.
The silt flows down from the Himalayan rivers and into the Bay of Bengal. Now with new technologies it is easier to harvest the silt and direct it to low lying areas. There are many skeptics who believe that the silt is not strong enough to withstand the strong current of the Himalayan river, and will get washed away creating a major loss in people, property and crops. Hopefully the silt will be able to withstand everything it faces and give people of Beel Bhaina a second chance at life because they are already trying to fix something that they may not be able to gain back again.

Earthquake in south-west Pakistan

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12222081

In a desert area bordering Iran and Afghanistan, a 7.2 earthquake had hit on Wednesday, January 19. Initially it has said to have been only 10 km in depth, but it turned out to be 84 km underground which limited the effects. The earthquake was felt in neighboring areas, some shaking will continue with some moderate damages. This earthquake came after a devastating flood during the 2010 monsoon as well as batteling Taliban militants from different tribal parts.

Ayyy :)

Welcome to our page of South Asia! Woop woop!:)