Climate, Land-Use Change and Hydrology of the Beas River Basin, Western Himalayas

There is a need of strengthening the global and local response to cope with the threat of climate change and adverse effects of rising anthropogenic activities in the mountain ecosystem. This book provides an up-to-date and comprehensive scientific and technical knowledge based on climate and land cover change impact assessment, adaptation and mitigation strategies in the Indian Himalayan watershed. The text updates the understanding scientific analysis to promote evidence-based policy formulation at regional and local levels. It can be used as reference materials with regards to climate and land cover change for those new learners interested in the mountainous region. This comprehensive book covers a wide range of potential research areas including climate change scenarios, science and its applications, adaptation to climate change-theory and assessment, water resources, agriculture, forest, biodiversity, and ecosystems, indigenous knowledge etc.

Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Description of the Study Area.- Chapter 3. Climate Variability Assessment.- Chapter 4. Changes in Land Use/Land Cover.- Chapter 5. Climate and Land Cover Change Scenarios.- Chapter 6. Effect of Climate and Land Cover Changes on Flow Regime.- Chapter 7. Policies on Climate Change Mitigation.- Chapter 8. Summary and Conclusion.

Seema Rani is currently working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography, Institute of Science, the Banaras Hindu University of Varanasi in India. She obtained her Ph.D. (Geography) on “Effect of Climate and Land Cover Changes on Flow Regime in the Upper Beas River Basin” from the Centre for the Study of Regional Development of Jawaharlal Nehru University, India, in 2018. She has also done M.Phil. (Geography) on “Assessment of the Influence of Climate Variability on the Snow Cover Area of the upper Beas river basin” from the Centre for the Study of Regional Development of Jawaharlal Nehru University. She has worked as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography of Miranda House, University of Delhi. She also did a teaching assistantship in the same department of Jawaharlal Nehru University. She was also a University Grant Commision of India (UGC)-Junior & Senior Research Fellowship during 2012-2017. She was awarded Best Paper Award at the 4th International Conference on Science & Geopolitics of HIMALAYA-ARCTIC-ANTARCTIC in 2017. She has presented research papers in 23 national and international conferences. She has been working in the areas of hydrometeorology especially evidence of climate change/variability and their impacts on hydrological responses of the Himalayan basin.