Perspectives On Flood 1998

Contributed articles presented at a seminar in 1998.

Contributed articles with reference to Bangladesh.

Flood Problem and Management in South Asia focuses on both the hazard and the vulnerability aspects of floods. This book addresses floods in South Asia from a multidisciplinary approach. The characteristics and nature of the flood problem and its management aspects are examined. It is suggested that flood control and management focused on structural solutions using embankments and reservoirs are insufficient. Effective solutions must go beyond structural measures and require major restructuring of both legal systems and institutions responsible for management. For those people living in the vast flood plains of South Asia to be able to overcome social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities, an adaptive approach to management of flood risks that identifies specific strategies is needed.

This volume covers the floods of the major rivers of the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) Delta, and storm surge related coastal floods in these regions. The book is dedicated to addressing floods from an integrated physical-social perspective to provide students and researchers with a holistic understanding of floods in terms of both human and geomorphological aspects. The systematic coverage of all the major rivers and coastal areas in the GBM delta and surrounding regions will foster a clear comprehension of this dense reservoir of population, where thousands of people are impacted every year due to flood hazards and agricultural destabilization. This comprehensive treatment of flood issues in the region covers flash floods, fluvial floods, fluvio-tidal floods, and coastal floods, and outlines flood management strategies to maintain ecological integrity and environmental stability, and prevent harmful impacts of future floods. The book is intended for students and researchers in earth and environmental sciences, especially geomorphology, hydrology, geography, geology, natural resources management, and regional planning.

Since 1972, scientists from all over the world working on fundamental questions of echinoderm biology and palaeontology have conferred every three years to exchange current views and results. The 11th International Echinoderm Conference held at the University of Munich, Germany, from 6-10 October 2003,continued this tradition. This volume comprises 95 submitted papers and 96 abstracts covering a wide spectrum from innovative student contributions to the lessons learnt from experienced specialists. The content of the contributions ranges from original research results to the latest synopses concerning a variety of topics, including visual sensing, larval cloning, mutable collagenous tissues, sea urchin aqua-culture, deuterostome phylogeny, palaeobiology and taphonomy.

The Fourth Assessment Report of IPCC having clinched in 2007 the evidence of global warming on account of anthropogenic activities, backed with scientific data gathered and analyzed globally, has made it mandatory world over to focus efforts on delineation of the anticipated adverse impacts of global warming on regional temperature and moisture regimes and the linked hydrologic, climatic and biospheric processes. First and foremost is the requirement to understand vulnerability to food and livelihood security in various ecosystems—on mainland, mid-range and high mountains as well as coastal areas including CEZs. The projected global temperature rise of the order of about two degrees or more and further rise at a decadal rate of o around 0. 2 C is sufficient to make grievous changes in sea surface level and submerge many low lying coastal areas around the world thereby possibly causing unprecedented losses to human habitat and livelihood in the coming years. A rise in climate variability is also becoming increasingly evident with potential direct impact on agricultural performance, on water accessibility and on weather extremes. Developing countries due to their poor infrastructure, limited resources and large impoverished population are likely to face more intense and wi- spread adverse impact of climate change than the developed world and also have limited adaptation capacity.

Floods are amongst the most common and devastating natural disasters. In the wake of such an event, the pressure to initiate flood protection schemes that will provide security is enormous, and politicians promise quick solutions in the national interest. Jeroen Warner examines a number of such projects from around the world - the Middle East, South Asia and Western Europe - aimed at the prevention of serious flooding. Each provoked a level of controversy unforeseen by its initiators, with the result that schemes were shelved, were not completed, or simply failed. The author shows how such projects inevitably become politicized as different stakeholders seek to promote their interests.

The giant Asian monsoon has formed a diverse climate and natural environment. The Asian monsoon climate manifests itself in manifold ways depending not just on the latitude or altitude of an area but also on physical conditions such as topography and vegetation and even the size of its human population. Likewise, the livelihoods of people in the affected area are diverse. This book focuses on nature and agriculture, food, and climate and culture as an excellent framework for understanding the relationship between humans and the environment in complex Monsoon Asia. Through the discussions in this book, what the authors have sought to demonstrate is that the livelihoods in Monsoon Asia demonstrate unique forms in a limited environment, while the Asian monsoon climate has one of the largest movements of any natural phenomenon on a macroscopic scale. These manifest forms are diverse both on a time scale and on a spatial scale and are extremely diversified in limited regions. Such diversity is not only due just to the effects of the natural environment but also results from social and cultural forces. In this area of Monsoon Asia, traditional and religious social norms are becoming entangled with “new” economic and political norms brought in from the outside world by globalization.