Reply

Alicia Cappello

Oct 2, 2017

Hi Birendra,

Thanks so much for entry to assignment 1c.

Just for the sake of visualization, I included a map of Nepal below, from Google Maps. It helped me gain a better understanding of where the mountains are (along the border with Tibet, in the north or east) and that the rivers flow to the south as you mentioned, towards the border with India. 

You also mentioned that Nepal doesn't have any hydroelectric dams or reservoirs for the water that flows down from the Himalaya. Do you consider that a good or a bad thing? Hydroelectric dams, while they do provide electricity, can be expensive to build and maintain, and do destroy the ecology above and below the dam. Not to mention that many dams in developing countries have displaced hundreds or thousands of citizens who are in the way of the dam. Reservoirs, on the other hand, can come in many forms, both natural and manmade. They benefit the local area around the reservoir because they provide water through all the seasons for drinking and farming. But, any water diverted from a river into a reservoir is water that doesn't continue to flow further down the river.

Where do the rivers from the Nepalese Himalaya flow? Are any of them dammed in India?

You said that "the U.S.A one of the most powerful leaders in the world , joining the 1% of countries that are not in the Paris agreement , it will make a lot more money though its companies and enterprises but it will make climate change a much faster process along with china." I'm trying to understand what you're saying here. If I interpreted this correctly, you're saying that the US will make a lot of money because it has decided not to participate in the Paris Climate Agreement, which in turn means that they will cause climate change to speed up. (Please let me know if I did not understand this correctly.)

Yes, the US--as a nation, at the federal level--has decided not to join the Paris Climate Agreement. But, states, municipalities and individual companies and organizations have agreed to abide by the Paris Climate Agreement, even if the federal government won't. In fact, it has caused quite an uproar in the US because many state and local government, companies and individual citizens are quite upset at the federal government because of this decision. If there are companies that decide to expand or implement technology that pollutes the environment, there's a good chance they won't get very far as they won't have a lot of state or local support. Plus, companies and organizations have begun to realize that climate-friendly technology is more profitable than climate-harming technology. And it's those profits that will drive many of the decisions made in the US. 

As for China, you may want to explore the internet for some stories like this one and this one, which show that China is actually moving forward on climate-friendly technology faster than the US. They certainly have a long way to go, as they are vastly more populated than the US, but they are at least making some of the right decisions. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, their decisions are also made based on profit, and they've realized climate-friendly technology is more profitable going forward.

Thanks again for your entry! Please feel free to post any responses below.

Alicia, University of Alberta