Environmental Geography of South Asia: Contributions Toward a Future Earth Initiative

  This volume synthesizes critical environmental challenges of dynamic earth and human environment systems in South Asia emphasizing geographical dimensions. It deals with spaceborne monitoring, climate, ecohydrology, forests and biodiversity, land-use and land-cover change (LUCC), natural hazards, and disasters in order to contribute towards a sustainable future. The contributions range from traditional field techniques to the use of remote sensing and geographic information systems. The book integrates environmental attributes relating the past, present, and future of South Asia broadly based on biophysical and human dimensions in spatio-temporal perspectives. The monitoring of natural hazards and climate issues is considered a vital component in the context of environmental geography, especially in observation and understanding of climate and water-induced disasters. It is important to communicate the advances in geoscience techniques to increase the resilience of the vulnerable society of South Asia and to promote livelihood security. The sustainability of South Asia depends strongly on the earth environment, and thus the development of geo-environmental monitoring is critical for a better understanding of our living environment. The aim of the book is to present dynamic aspects of environmental geography to contribute to future earth initiatives in South Asia.