Articles tagged with: Himalayas
Posted in Earth, Environment, Himalayas on 4 August 2008
‘The Savage Mountain’ is the nickname given to the K-2 peak. And rightfully so, coz it is one of the most dangerous peaks to conquer in the world. Living up to the sobriquet attributed to it, K-2 once again claimed eleven lives (not confirmed) yesterday when an ice avalanche swept away some of the climbers and also the lines used by the climbers, thereby stranding the others midway.
Posted in Eco-Friendly, Eco-friendly products, Environment, Go green, Health, Himalayas, Solar, concept on 24 July 2008
What kills roughly 2 million people but is not AIDS? Answer: indoor cooking related diseases. Shocked? This fact is found and recorded in a World Health Organization report. The problem aggravates in villages where modern gas burners are rarely available and the smoke chullas (stoves) are vicious enough to choke your lungs!
In an attempt to alleviate this situation, students from MIT have designed a clean solar cooker out of yak-wool canvas panels, for villagers of the Himalayan region. The panels are stretched over bamboo ribs and faced with reflective Mylar in a manner that in first look you might think it to be some sort of an umbrella!
But this unique light weight cooking device comes for only $17 and for an extra $26 one can attach a metal coil for heating one’s house. This solar cooker helps in cutting down carbon emission as opposed to the traditional yak dung or wood fuel the cooker uses solar power to make yummy food! Its design has won a prize and loads of public attention at the MIT IDEAS competition and in near future one may happen to find it in markets for sale. This means clean and green cooking at an affordable price and no more choking or coughing over horrible gas stoves! 
Via: wiredscience
Posted in Earth, Eco-Friendly, Environment, Himalayas, Tourism on 12 July 2007
Is it essential to convert a sand-and-gravel path into a metalled road? China says yes, but India counters it saying not at the cost of environment. Ready China assures that monitoring the number of tourists visiting that road brush-up every doubt.
Chairman of National Tourism Administration, Shao Qiwei told media that if China respects environment and tourism equally but if the demand of the hour is to choose one then environment is the first priority.
Environmentalists in India and elsewhere have protested China’s move to convert 110-kilometer long sand-and-gravel path into a “black-topped, metalled road, lined with guardrails” for athletes to take the Olympic torch to the summit. China’s concern for environment cannot be doubted as the country can attract tourism through green environs only.
Also, the very climate of the Himalayas doesn’t invite many tourists, making it difficult for the climbers to reach at such a height. Exemplifying it Qiwei said: “This we have discovered when we built Quinghai-Lhasa high altitude train. Many people got breathless when they reached that height in the train. Mount Qomolangma (Everest) is much higher than that,” he said.
So, is this debate enough to water the protest raged by Environmentalists to convert 110-kilometre long katchha road into a metalled one sand for athletes to take the Olympic torch to the summit?