Nepal

1
Nepal

• One of the worlds most beautiful, yet fragile
  environments

2
(No Transcript)
3
The Physical Environment of Nepal
Terai (Sunauli)
Formation of the Himalayas
Altitude and Climate Zones
The Physical Environment of Nepal
Middle Hills (Kathmandu)
Asian Monsoon
The High Mountains (Himalayas) (Namche)
4
The Physical Environment of Nepal

• Nepal has many climate and altitude zones which
  are all situated within 200km and rises 8000
  metres. These rises take place over 3 steps
  which means there are three main zones in Nepal.
  These are the Terai, the Middle Hills and the
  High Mountains (Himalayas).

5
The Terai

• The Terai has a nearly tropical climate.
• July temperatures in Sunauli are above 30?C and
  can go much higher.
• These high temperatures coincide with the arrival
  of the wet monsoon, when moist air is drawn into
  central Asia over the Indian Ocean and the Bay of
  Bengal to bring extremely wet weather to the
  whole of Nepal.
• The vegetation in this zone of Nepal should be
  Tropical Hardwood Forest but much of this has
  been cleared for timber and to create land for
  farming.

The graph above show the climate of Sunauli, a
town situated in the Terai of Nepal. It shows
both the Temperature and the Rainfall of Sunauli
over a typical year. It shows a consistently
high temperature over the whole year with it
reaching 31C in the summer and around 17/18C in
the winter months. Also it shows very low
rainfall in the winter but rainfall of up to
220mm in the summer during the monsoon.
6
The Middle Hills

• The middle hills zone lies between 2000 and 2500m
  above sea level and is the most populated region
  of Nepal.
• Summer temperatures are not as hot as Sunauli
  (the Terai), with June average summer
  temperatures of 27?C.
• This zone experiences very high rainfall, with
  over 350mm being received in Kathmandu in July,
  when the monsoon breaks.
• This region contains some of the wettest places
  on earth and the rainfall is torrential during
  the monsoon season.
• The heavy rainfall means that the natural
  vegetation of this area is moist temperate
  forest. Much of this has been cleared for grazing
  and cultivation using terraces.
• It is also the zone where the most severe soil
  erosion is taking place, due to population
  pressure on the land.

The graph above show the climate of Kathmandu, a
town situated in the middle hills of Nepal. It
shows quite a large range of temperatures,
ranging form 3C in the winter to 27C in the
summer. Also it has the most rainfall in all the
areas of Nepal with up to around 350mm in the
summer when the monsoon hits Nepal and Asia.
7
The High Mountains (Himalayas)

• The high Himalayas lie between 2500 and
  8000metres and have a mountain climate.
• Alpine vegetation and bare rock is all that is
  found at this altitude.
• Winter temperatures in Namche dont go much above
  freezing and summer temperatures only reach 14?C.
  
• Rainfall is not as high as in the foothills zone
  and much of it falls as snow.

The above graph show the rainfall and temperature
for Namche, a town in the high mountains of
Nepal. It shows a mountain climate of little
annual rainfall, not going above 100mm but during
the summer when the monsoon hits the rainfall
rises to around 300mm. The Temperature is
annually low not going above 12 C but going as
low as 1C.
8
Formation of The Himalayas

• The Himalayan mountain range began to form 30
  million years ago when the Indian crustal plate
  was pushed down under the Asian plate. Sea-floor
  sediments (layers of sand and clay forming rock),
  called Tethys, between the two continents, were
  piled up into great fold mountains.
• The Himalayas are still growing today at a rate
  of around 4-6cm a year.

9
Asian Monsoon

• The cause
• In some respects it is a large version of the
  'land-sea breeze', where on a sunny day at the
  beach, the land warms more quickly than the
  ocean. As the hot air rises over the land, it is
  replaced by the cooler air over the water.
• At night, however, the land cools at a quicker
  rate than the water, so the wind shifts, blowing
  from the land to the warmer water.
• So our two key ingredients for the Asian Monsoon
  are a large land mass and a large ocean - namely
  southern Asia (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan
  and Sri Lanka) and the surrounding Arabian Sea
  and the Indian Ocean.
• When does it start?From April, the pre-monsoon
  heat builds over the land and with time will
  result in continuous rising of less dense air (as
  the land warms faster) and form areas of low
  pressure, most commonly over North India and the
  Himalayas.
• Meanwhile, over the oceans the air is cooler and
  denser so it is linked to areas of high pressure.
  The temperature difference between the land and
  sea can be as much as 20C - land temperatures in
  India can even exceed 45C, while the surrounding
  water in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea
  remains in the low 20s.
• To maintain the energy balance the air starts
  flowing from the oceans (high pressure) to the
  land (low pressure) bringing in the moisture rich
  southwest winds across southern Asia - the 'wet'
  phase.
• When the 'wet' phase starts, around 25 May, it
  has two arms. One coming into Sri Lanka and the
  other one moving up from the Bay of Bengal into
  parts of NE India and Bangladesh.

10
Population Growth In Nepal
Effect on The Environment
Predictions
Population Growth in Nepal
Rivers Carrying More Water
The Growth of Tourism
11
Population Change
These show that it is predicted that the
population will rise dramatically as more people
are living longer and there are more children
being born into families as the amount of young
children has risen dramatically. Also over both
sets of data it is quite evenly split between
male and female.
The population pyramid shows the population of
Nepal in 2000. It shows small percentages of the
population living over 50 but a lot of the
population between 0 and 20 years old
The population pyramid shows the a prediction of
the population of Nepal in 2025. It shows small
percentages of the population living over 50 but
a lot of the population between 0 and 30 years old
12
Population Change
These show that it is predicted that when the
year 2050 comes more and more people will be
living longer, possibly due to better health care
and that the population will be quit evenly large
between the ages of 0 and 50 and getting smaller
as people get older. Also over both sets of data
it is quite evenly split between male and female.
The population pyramid shows the a prediction of
the population of Nepal in 2025. It shows small
percentages of the population living over 50 but
a lot of the population between 0 and 30 years old
The population pyramid shows the a prediction of
the population of Nepal in 2050. It shows much
larger percentages of the population living over
50, than in that of 2025, but still shows that
most of the population living between 0 and 50
years old
13
North East India (Assam) and Bangladesh
Nepal

• The overall thing that this flow chart shows us
  that the rapid population increase of Nepal
  doesnt just affect Nepal, it also affects, India
  and Bangladesh. This is because of the rise in
  the water levels.
• This has
• Increased the flood hazard in India and
  Bangladesh by 400 in the last 40 years
• It has made rivers in India and Bangladesh very
  dangerous to cross during the monsoon rains.
• Also it has increased erosion on quality farmland
  with much land lost.
• Overall it shows that is the rapid population
  increase of Nepal doesnt stop it could cause
  very serious problems for Nepal, India and
  Bangladesh in the future.

Too many cattle cause overgrazing and trampling
of pasture land
Trampling of soil lowers infiltration rate
It show the effects of more people getting more
cattle. It show that soil gets trampled leaving
it more difficult for water to infiltrate,
causing more water to travel above ground and get
into rivers much quicker causing a rise in the
rivers water level. Also that causes more
erosion during monsoon rains making more sediment
make its way into the river. Another cause of
this is deforestation which is needed for cattle
fodder which decreases the amount of interception
causing more landslides which put large amounts
of sediment into the rivers. Also this decrease
in Next
Rapid Population Increase
The flow chart shows many things that are
affected by the rapid population increase of
Nepal, and how these have effected the
environment. For Example
Interception allows more water to reach the
rivers quicker (increased runoff). So therefore
it shows that even the things we may see as
little things turn out to have a huge impact on
the environment
Rapid gully erosion during monsoon rains
Excessive overland flow
Increase in number of cattle
Flood hazard increased 4x in last 40 years
Rivers dangerous to cross during monsoon rains
Deforestation in Nepal causes problems in North
East India (Assam) and Bangladesh
More water reaches the rivers (increased runoff)
More trees felled for firewood
More trees felled for cattle fodder
Rivers carry more sediment
Increased erosion of quality farmland with much
land lost
Terracing of steep marginal land
Rapid deforestation
Decrease in rate of interception
Increase in number of landslides
Terraces collapse after 2-3 years
14
The Growth of Tourism

• The Growth of tourism has many affects on
  Nepals wonderful environment but also there are
  some benefits to it and ways to get around the
  problems.
• It all started after the first Everest climb in
  1952. This caused a huge interest by the media
  and the beginning of trekking tourism.

15
Issues and Benefits
Issues
Benefits

• The paths are not wide enough to cater for
  everyone to walk with ease.
• Rise in number of tourist lodges, they become
  unsustainable and there is a lack of fuel for
  cooking and showering (water).
• Litter
• Pollution
• Rising Living Costs for local people
• The tourists could cause cultural damage.

In My view there is only one benefit to allowing
tourists into Nepal, which is Money. They will
bring a lot of money into the country which could
be spent on protecting the beautiful environment
from destruction. But is it a good enough risk
to take if you look at what the tourists could do
to the environment anyway?
16
Solutions

• Local people could make tree nurseries and start
  local tree planting schemes to protect the much
  needed forests.
• Use kerosene and sustainable fuels,
• Get local people involved in managements of
  tourist lodges.
• Use certain strategies to control what tourists
  do and where they go, to keep them away from some
  people and some areas.

17
Conclusion

• Nepal is a beautiful country yet it is being
  ruined but the rapid increase in population.
  This is causing rapid deforestation and the
  cutting of lots of terraces which is allowing the
  water in rivers to rise rapidly. To solve this
  the government needs to control the amount of
  trees being cut down/replanted and how many
  terraces are being cut into the ground. If they
  can do this Nepal will stay beautiful for many
  years to come and will not be destroyed, by the
  rivers that run through and around Nepal. Also
  this protection will control the increase in
  water in the rivers and therefore protect India
  and Bangladeshs environment as well.