Plant life 'expanding over the Himalayas', Global : Today Indya

Plant life 'expanding over the Himalayas'

Global

BBC

Vegetation is expanding at high altitudes in the Himalayas, including in the Everest region, new research has shown.

The researchers found plant life in areas where vegetation was not previously known to grow.

A team used satellite data from 1993 to 2018 to measure the extent of plant cover between the tree-line and the snow-line.

The results are published in the journal Global Change Biology.

The study focused on the subnival region - the area between the tree-line (the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing) and the snow line (the boundary between snow-covered land and snow-free land).

Subnival plants are mainly small grasses and shrubs.

"The strongest trend in increased vegetation cover was between 5,000 metres and 5,500 metres altitude," said Dr Karen Anderson, from Exeter University, lead author of the report.

"At higher elevations, the expansion was strong on flatter areas while at lower levels that has been observed on steeper slopes."

Using Nasa's Landsat satellite images, the researchers divided the heights into four "brackets" between 4,150m and 6,000m.It covered different locations in the Hindu Kush Himalayas, ranging from Myanmar in the east to Afghanistan in the west.

It covered different locations in the Hindu Kush Himalayas, ranging from Myanmar in the east to Afghanistan in the west.

In the Everest region, the study found a significant increase in vegetation in all height brackets.

Other researchers and scientists working on glaciers and water systems in the Himalayas have confirmed the expansion of vegetation.

"It (the research) matches the expectations of what would happen in a warmer and wetter climate," said Prof Walter Immerzeel, with the faculty of geosciences at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, who was not involved in the study.

"This is a very sensitive altitudinal belt where the snowline is. A withdrawal of the snowline to higher altitudes in this zone provides opportunity for vegetation to grow."

The research did not examine the causes of the change.

Other research has suggested Himalayan ecosystems are highly vulnerable to climate-induced vegetation shifts.

"We have found the tree-line expanding in the subalpine regions of Nepal and China as the temperature rises," said Achyut Tiwari, assistant professor with the department of botany at Nepal's Tribhuvan University.

"If that is happening with trees at lower elevations, clearly the plants at higher altitudes will also be reacting to the rise in temperature."

Some scientists regularly visiting the Himalayas have confirmed this picture of expanding vegetation.

"Plants are indeed colonising the areas that once were glaciated in some of these Himalayas," said Elizabeth Byers, a vegetation ecologist who has carried out field studies in the Nepalese Himalayas for nearly 40 years.

"At some locations where there were clean-ice glaciers many years ago, now there are debris-covered boulders, and on them you see mosses, lichens, and even flowers."

Little is known about plants at these even-higher altitudes, as most scientific studies have focused on retreating glaciers and expanding glacial lakes amid rising temperatures.

The researchers said detailed field studies on vegetation in the high Himalayas were required to understand how the plants interact with soils and snow.

"What does the change in vegetation mean for the hydrology (the properties of water) in the region is one of the key questions," said Dr Anderson.

"Will that slow down the melting of glaciers and ice sheets or will it accelerate the process?"

The Hindu Kush Himalayan region extends across all or part of eight countries, from Afghanistan in the west to Myanmar in the east. More than 1.4 billion people depend on water from this region.

Article Original Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51050456

#plant life expanding

After Royal Rift, Meghan Goes Back To Canada To Be With Son Archie

Global

NDTV

Queen Elizabeth and other senior British royals were trying to calm the royal crisis by thrashing out a plan for Harry and Meghan.

LONDON: Meghan, the wife of Prince Harry, has gone back to Canada to be with their son after the couple provoked a rift with Britain's royal family by unexpectedly announcing they would be stepping back from their roles to spend more time in North America.

Queen Elizabeth and other senior British royals were trying to calm the crisis by thrashing out a plan for Harry and Meghan after the couple blindsided the family by going public with their announcement without consultation.

The couple spent six weeks in Canada at the end of last year before returning to Britain and their first official engagement of 2020 was to visit Canada House to say thank you for what they said had been an "unbelievable" welcome.

Their baby son, Archie, remained in Canada as Harry and Meghan returned to announce that they would step back from royal duties and build a more "progressive" role for themselves.

Meghan has now returned to Canada to be with her son, a spokeswoman said.

The couple - formally the Duke and Duchess of Sussex - said they had been reflecting for months before making the decision, which would see them divide their time between Britain and North America to allow them and Archie the space they needed.

They also said they intended to become financially independent.

The couple, who spoke of their struggles dealing with the intense media attention in a TV interview last October, revealed their decision to step back from royal duties on Instagram, leaving senior royals hurt and disappointed.

Discussions over the future had only been at a preliminary stage and neither the queen nor Prince Charles - Harry's father and heir to the throne - were consulted on the release of their statement or its contents, a royal source said.

As the crisis engulfed the Windsors, aides who work for the queen, Charles, and Harry's elder brother William were trying to find a solution.

The royal source said it was hoped a successful outcome would take "days not weeks".

"CRISIS TALKS"

"Queen fights to save monarchy," the Daily Mirror said on its front page while the Sun tabloid spoke of "Crisis talks after couple defied Queen".

While other members of the royal family have had paying jobs, it was not immediately clear how Harry, 35 and sixth in line to the throne, and Meghan, 38, could become what royal biographers said was effectively "half-royal" - and who would pay for their transatlantic lifestyles.

At the moment, nearly all of their income is provided by Charles's Duchy of Cornwall estate, although the cost of their security - estimated by newspapers to be hundreds of thousands of pounds a year - is currently met by the government.

The Times newspaper said Charles might cut off their funding if they moved away from royal duties altogether, although public relations experts said they could use their global fame to make large sums through public speaking, endorsements or their own TV production company.

Six months ago Harry and Meghan applied to the UK Intellectual Property Office to trademark the phrases Sussex Royal and Sussex Royal Foundation for items ranging from books and charity campaigns to pyjamas and socks.

"The monarchy needs to be asked serious questions about what they're up to, it's not good enough to be told to wait for clarification or to be left reading the tea leaves to work out what their intentions are," said Graham Smith, from campaign group Republic, which wants to abolish the royals.

A YouGov poll of 1,327 Britons found that 45% supported the couple's decision to step away from royal life but 63% believed their Duchy of Cornwall funding should end.

Article Original Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/after-britain-royal-rift-meghan-goes-back-t...