tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/bay-of-bengal-16916/articlesBay of Bengal – The Conversation2022-12-07T16:43:27Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1938162022-12-07T16:43:27Z2022-12-07T16:43:27ZUsing art and song to help bring the world’s largest mangrove swamp back from the brink<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499290/original/file-20221206-13-jc80ii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C11%2C3687%2C2079&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In the Sundarbans swamp, pneumatophores are upward growths of mangrove root systems that allow them to capture oxygen. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">https://www.shutterstock.com/es/image-photo/pneumatophores-mangrove-forest-bed-green-moss-2130650117</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Located in the low-lying islands in the Bay of Bengal, the Sundarbans straddle the border between India and Bangladesh and cover more than 1 million hectares, making them the world’s <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ForestDepartmentWB/videos/1790418657976737">largest single contiguous mangrove swamp</a>. A <a href="https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/2370">Ramsar site</a> added to the <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/798/">UNESCO World Heritage list</a> in 1987, they are home to a wide range of critically endangered fauna, including the Bengal tiger, the <a href="https://www.riverdolphins.org/river-dolphins-worldwide/ganges-river-dolphin/">Ganges dolphin</a>, river terrapin, the estuarine crocodile and the Indian python, along with approximately <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/sunderbans-home-to-428-species-of-birds-records-zsi/article33651099.ece">428 species of birds</a>, 120 fish, 42 mammal, 35 reptile and 8 amphibian species. Having adapted to the saline estuarine conditions, more than 60 plant species can be found there.</p>
<p>Historically, cyclones have posed a greater threat in the Bay of Bengal than they do in the Arabian sea, to India’s west. Between 1891 and 2018, there were <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/coastal-concerns-rising-sea-levels-will-inundate-coastal-areas-sooner-than-projected-/articleshow/71985765.cms">520 cyclones in the Bay of Bengal</a>, compared to 126 in the Arabian Sea. On top of sucking up <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/bfm:978-1-4020-4271-3/1.pdf">large amounts of greenhouse emissions</a>, mangroves also act as the first line of defence against flooding and erosion by <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-61136-6">lowering waves and storm surges</a>. Research has shown that mangrove swamps are capable of lessening the impacts of major storms and other natural phenomena, not only in the delta region but also in the <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/sunderbans-shield-protects-kolkata-from-bulbul-fury/story-jGL5lzL3kOHkeaoKmROwSN.html">nearby cities such as Kolkata</a>.</p>
<h2>Environmental degradation</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, mangrove swamps have suffered significant degradation due to human encroachment, <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/the-big-story/story/20190930-massacre-of-the-mangroves-1600672-2019-09-20">illegal logging</a>, and seawater levels, which lead to <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2017/01/22/increasing-salinity-in-a-changing-climate-likely-to-alter-sundarbans-ecosystem">increasing salinity of the surrounding areas</a>. Approximately <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/india-lost-40-of-its-mangroves-in-the-last-century-and-its-putting-communities-at-risk/article22999935.ece">40% of the mangrove cover in the Sundarbans has disappeared over the last 20 years</a>.</p>
<p>While several initiatives have been undertaken to <a href="https://blogs.worldbank.org/endpovertyinsouthasia/little-little-india-restores-its-lost-mangroves">replant mangroves</a>, especially on the inhabited islands, a range of natural and institutional vulnerabilities have left long stretches of riverbanks bare and nearby communities exposed to storms and other natural phenomena. Despite growing awareness, it was only after the deadly cyclones <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/may/27/india-bangladesh-cyclone-aila-168-dead">Aila</a> (2009) and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/20/super-cyclone-amphan-evacuations-in-india-and-bangladesh-slowed-by-virus">Amphan</a> (2020) that communities realised the urgent need to restore an ecological balance and develop resilience. With the help of local activists, the communities have been able to achieve partial success, but they do require more encouragement and support to keep this going and inspire neighbouring communities to take it up as well.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499306/original/file-20221206-10480-wz1k2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499306/original/file-20221206-10480-wz1k2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499306/original/file-20221206-10480-wz1k2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499306/original/file-20221206-10480-wz1k2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499306/original/file-20221206-10480-wz1k2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499306/original/file-20221206-10480-wz1k2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499306/original/file-20221206-10480-wz1k2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">As part of the work of their work, in 2018 the Living Waters Museum organised a ‘water varta’ exhibition intended to celebrate our tangible and intangible water heritage.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.livingwatersmuseum.org/water-varta-exhibition">Living Waters Museum</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>It is at junctures like these where organisations like ours, the <a href="https://www.livingwatersmuseum.org/">Living Waters Museum</a>, play a crucial role in providing not only financial assistance but also leading capacity-building activities with youth. Established in 2017, we are a virtual repository exploring the multifaceted dimensions of water through the use of digital media, storytelling, music, theatre and other forms of art. At the forefront of such initiatives lies the project “Climate Wall”, a project created in association with <a href="https://in.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/kolkata/">US Consulate General Kolkata</a> and led by Sukrit Sen, which helps students understand their environment and its challenges. </p>
<p>As part of the project, a physical climate wall teaches young leaders about the different species of mangroves and helps them develop effective strategies for collecting and growing them in nurseries. Once their roots are long enough to withstand the tidal forces, the seedlings are finally planted on the riverbeds. The virtual wall uses creative arts such as paintings, dance, poetry and music as mediums to raise climate awareness and encourage community members to get involved in local governing bodies for water management.</p>
<h2>Building capacity</h2>
<p>The project is based in the Sundarbans village of Hingalganj, at the border between India and Bangladesh. There we are currently working with a local organisation called “Breathing Roots” to help schoolchildren learn about the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LivingWatersMuseum/videos/808792033837178">importance of mangroves as well as growing techniques</a> so that they can withstand tidal pressures. We also discuss ways that students can take action to help mitigate climate impacts and understand how our own lifestyles can <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLxuDNpNHqE">contribute to climate change</a>. Workshops over the past year have involved media such as <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LivingWatersMuseum/posts/pfbid0hz77QPWEd2c8mWpbCiDq6EC1H78dmMM9gspoonmFKFaedvfXfbH9fSmpLxyjyTekl">art</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CfdeC87vQSF/">dance</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=486464183525920&set=pcb.486465976859074">poetry</a>. The last stage of this project will include another <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LivingWatersMuseum/posts/pfbid0cPXui4S3WKfemwCPin8LsiAqHd9MnC4UTPhiw8tsRYECN9GhTY2Gpa6oybHqkGb6l">round of tree planting</a> to reinforce the surrounding areas against future cyclones.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">‘Ujan Ganger’, a Bhatiyali song by Jasim Uddin and sung by Neena Hamid.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Apart from these, one of the main outcomes of this project will include a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnDmg-cBVsA"><em>Bhatiyali</em> song</a>, a genre of music believed to have originated with boatmen who would compose songs based on their long and lonely journeys and what they learned from their surroundings. <em>Bhatiyali</em> singers have thus been documenting climate change for much longer than conventional researchers, who coined the term <em>climate change</em> only in the late 1970s.</p>
<p>While this genre of music was long neglected by newer generations, the song being written will be composed and sung by our youth partners. The goal is that it will be able to serve as a local medium of interpretation and inspire future generations – they too have much to contribute to the scientific discourse of our current times.</p>
<p>The final outcomes of the “Climate Wall” project will be available toward mid-2023 on the <a href="https://www.livingwatersmuseum.org/">Living Waters Museum</a> portal.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Sukrit Sen of the Living Waters Museum helped contribute to this article.</em></p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485372/original/file-20220919-20-pguqfq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485372/original/file-20220919-20-pguqfq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485372/original/file-20220919-20-pguqfq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485372/original/file-20220919-20-pguqfq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485372/original/file-20220919-20-pguqfq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485372/original/file-20220919-20-pguqfq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485372/original/file-20220919-20-pguqfq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/next50/">50th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention</a> (16 November 2022): World Heritage as a source of resilience, humanity and innovation.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193816/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sara Ahmed ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>On the border between India and Bangladesh, the Sundarbans suffer from overexploitation and rising sea levels. With a “Climate Wall” project, a virtual museum is raising awareness and increasing resiliency.Sara Ahmed, Adjunct faculty, humanities and social sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) PuneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1722542021-12-15T12:38:15Z2021-12-15T12:38:15ZChennai’s floods: the city has learned nothing from the past – here’s what it can do<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435638/original/file-20211203-21-cwu2q9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=36%2C0%2C5970%2C4007&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://webgate.epa.eu/?20370008538715063107&SCOPE=QUEUE&EVENT=DISPLAY&LIGHTBOX=11365">Idrees Mohammed/EPA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>November 2021 was a devastating month for flooding in the city of Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu in southern India. With 1,000mm of rainfall in just four weeks, these were the worst rains since the <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/revisiting-the-2015-floods-in-chennai-images-from-the-hindu/article21248895.ece">devastating floods</a> of 2015 when it poured for 22 out of 30 days in December, setting a record of 1,049mm. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ndtv.com/chennai-news/2015-chennai-floods-a-man-made-disaster-says-cag-report-1881906">Then</a>, as <a href="https://www.cnbctv18.com/videos/india/is-unabated-urbanisation-to-be-blamed-for-chennai-floods-11512842.htm">now</a>, the flooding in Chennai was described as a man-made disaster, despite occurring during a storm called <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-55068379">Cyclone Nivar</a>. On both occasions, <a href="https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2021/nov/12/chennai-cries-rain-of-misery-as-floods-leave-behind-trails-of-devastation-2382478.html">death, disruption and destruction</a> was the result. India has faced more than <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/diu/story/300-disasters-80-000-deaths-100-crore-affected-india-s-two-decade-tryst-with-natural-calamities-1767202-2021-02-08">300 weather events</a> in the last two decades, resulting in over 79,000 deaths. </p>
<p>Tamil Nadu has long been known for its susceptibility to a long list of natural disasters: cyclones, storm surges, coastal flooding, torrential rainfall, earthquakes and tsunamis. <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-management-et-avenir-2009-7-page-174.htm">India accounts for 24%</a> of all disasters in Asia and Chennai ranks seventh in the list of India’s <a href="https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2021/oct/27/chennai-ranks-seventh-in-vulnerability-index-study-2376215.html">most vulnerable districts</a> to extreme flooding and cyclones.</p>
<p>The southern state’s 1,076km of coastline makes up more than 13% of the total Indian coastline, bordered by the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Indian Ocean in the south and the Arabian Sea in the west.</p>
<p>Cyclones need a lot of heat (at least 26°C) to form, and warm tropical sea beds provide this energy. The Bay of Bengal has a deep layer of warm water, which fuels the rapid formation of cyclones that gather force within a short period of time. </p>
<p>Since the catastrophic <a href="https://www.history.com/news/deadliest-tsunami-2004-indian-ocean#:%7E:text=At%207%3A59%20AM%2C%20a,in%20a%20matter%20of%20hours.">2004 Boxing Day tsunami</a> which <a href="http://www.iitk.ac.in/nicee/RP/2006_Response_Recovery_EQSpectra.pdf">killed 10,000 people</a> in Tamil Nadu, there have been 14 cyclones and regular flooding in this area. Yet the preparation and response to these extreme events have been woefully inadequate over the last 15 years. </p>
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<h2>Why has nothing changed?</h2>
<p>The Indian Meteorological Department issued a red alert warning on November 12 2021. But 48 hours later Chennai had once again ground to a standstill due to heavy rainfall triggered by the north-east <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/Indian-monsoon">monsoon season</a> which occurs between October-December annually. </p>
<p>Seventeen deaths were recorded, and power outages, submerged dams and underpasses hampered movement around the city, including rescue operations by the National Disaster Risk Force (NDRF). </p>
<p>As Tamil Nadu’s tech-hub “<a href="https://cscl.co.in/#:%7E:text=Smart%20City%20is%20an%20urban,opportunity%20to%20local%20decision%20makers.">smart city</a>”, Chennai has attracted newcomers with the prospect of good jobs, housing and amenities, swelling its population to just over <a href="https://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/chennai-population">11m people</a>. This has put even more pressure on existing infrastructure and services.</p>
<p>Despite the continuous development and increasing population, nothing in the city’s disaster response has changed over the last 16 years, even after the devastating 2015 floods. Officials failed to take preventive measures and released dam water without announcement, over-filling the Chembarambakkam reservoir flooding the nearby areas. The city’s densely packed housing has only made preparation for any future extreme weather events more difficult.</p>
<h2>Gridlocked systems</h2>
<p>Most of Chennai’s <a href="https://www.cnbctv18.com/videos/india/is-unabated-urbanisation-to-be-blamed-for-chennai-floods-11512842.htm">problems</a> revolve around inadequate and poorly managed infrastructure, resulting in leaks, blocked drains and over-burdened sewage systems – problems that have existed in Chennai for decades. Bad planning is also an issue in the city, where the state government has allowed <a href="https://www.cnbctv18.com/videos/india/is-unabated-urbanisation-to-be-blamed-for-chennai-floods-11512842.htm">building and development</a> on marshlands and wetlands which would normally have soaked up floodwater. </p>
<p>The Cooum, which flows through the city, has slowly become a highly polluted, toxic river full of sewage. During the 2015 Chennai floods, it quickly became an open sewer as the city’s drains overflowed and the water submerged sewage systems.</p>
<p>One of the greatest problems the city faces is plastic pollution. Around <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/un-plans-to-drastically-expand-plastic-waste-management-in-india/article37818461.ece">3.4 million tonnes of plastic waste</a> are generated by India each year. Chennai <a href="https://tnpcb.gov.in/pdf_2019/AnnualRptPlasticwaste1920.pdf">ranks second</a> in the country for plastic waste, producing 429 tonnes a day. The plastic clogs up drains and sewers so that during heavy rainfall floodwater has nowhere to go, resulting in waterlogged streets. </p>
<p>Failure of policies and inadequate infrastructure coupled with excessive bureaucracy and inaction mean that every time there are heavy rains or storms, Chennai’s citizens face <a href="https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/tamil-nadu-rain-death-toll-rescue-operation-update-heavy-rainfall-warning-floods-chennai-rains-latest-news-746918">disruption, displacement and tragedy</a> as they did in November. It is essential that the city significantly reduces its plastic pollution, invests in proper floodwater drainage and continually re-assesses the changing risks and vulnerabilities to future flood scenarios. </p>
<p>Making the right decisions and implementing them may not be a straightforward process in a country like India because of widespread poverty, lack of planning, coordination and proper channelling of funding. Perhaps cities like Chennai need to adopt alternative approaches such as <a href="https://www.mei.edu/publications/2015-chennai-flood-case-developing-city-resilience-strategies">community-based flood management programmes</a>.</p>
<p>This would encourage communities to take responsibility and action, empowering the very people whom the flooding affects most. It would also help to dispel the dangerous sense of inevitability that pervades the city about flooding. </p>
<p>There are specific reasons Chennai floods so easily, but they can be addressed. Awareness of how plastic pollution contributes to the problem and what can be done about it at a local level would be a good place to start.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172254/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anitha Karthik does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In spite of monsoon season and cyclone Nivar, the most recent floods are largely man-made disasters.Anitha Karthik, PhD Candidate in Disaster Risk Reduction, Edinburgh Napier UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1135042019-03-18T16:31:08Z2019-03-18T16:31:08ZIndian summer monsoon amplified global warming 130,000 years ago, helping end ice age<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264376/original/file-20190318-28505-1by2fua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C0%2C3988%2C2652&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Monsoon clouds approach in India.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/view-lake-distant-cloud-approaching-654600133">Manoj Felix/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The past may be a surprisingly useful guide for predicting responses to future climate change. This is especially important for places where extreme weather has been the norm for a long time, such as the Indian subcontinent. Being able to reliably predict summer monsoon rainfall is critical to plan for the devastating impact it can have on the 1.7 billion people who live in the region. </p>
<p><a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/97JC02719">The onset of India’s summer monsoon</a> is linked to heat differences between the warmer land and cooler ocean, which causes a shift in prevailing wind direction. Winds blow over the Indian Ocean, picking up moisture, which falls as rain over the subcontinent from June to September.</p>
<p>The monsoon season can bring drought and food shortages or severe flooding, depending on how much rain falls and in what duration. Understanding how the monsoon responded to an abrupt climate transition in the past can therefore help scientists better understand its behaviour in the future.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264392/original/file-20190318-28479-cur6ci.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264392/original/file-20190318-28479-cur6ci.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264392/original/file-20190318-28479-cur6ci.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=147&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264392/original/file-20190318-28479-cur6ci.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=147&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264392/original/file-20190318-28479-cur6ci.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=147&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264392/original/file-20190318-28479-cur6ci.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=184&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264392/original/file-20190318-28479-cur6ci.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=184&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264392/original/file-20190318-28479-cur6ci.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=184&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Maharashtra, India on May 28 2010, during the dry season.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MatheranPanoramaPointDrySeason.JPG">Arne Hückelheim/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>When we researched this weather system’s ancient past, we found it was highly sensitive to climate warming 130,000 years ago. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0319-5">Our new study</a> published in Nature Geoscience showed that the Indian summer monsoon pulled heat and moisture into the northern hemisphere when Earth was entering a warmer climate around 130,000 years ago. This caused tropical wetlands to expand northwards – habitats that act as <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2004GL021009">sources of methane, a greenhouse gas</a>. This amplified global warming further and helped end the ice age.</p>
<p>The rate at which today’s climate is changing is unprecedented in the geological record, but our study shows how sensitive the Indian summer monsoon was during a global transition into warming in the past and may still be.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264393/original/file-20190318-28483-e4zcsh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264393/original/file-20190318-28483-e4zcsh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264393/original/file-20190318-28483-e4zcsh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=163&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264393/original/file-20190318-28483-e4zcsh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=163&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264393/original/file-20190318-28483-e4zcsh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=163&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264393/original/file-20190318-28483-e4zcsh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=205&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264393/original/file-20190318-28483-e4zcsh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=205&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264393/original/file-20190318-28483-e4zcsh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=205&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The same view in Maharashtra, India on August 28 2010, during the monsoon season.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MatheranPanoramaPointMonsoon.JPG">Arne Hückelheim/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The monsoon rains of yesteryear</h2>
<p>Over the last one million years, the climate fluctuated between a cold glacial – known as an ice age – and a warm interglacial as the Earth’s position relative to the sun <a href="http://ossfoundation.us/projects/environment/global-warming/milankovitch-cycles">wobbled in its orbit</a>. The last transition from an ice age into the warm climate of the present interglacial – known as the Holocene – occurred around 18,000 years ago. This period of Earth’s history is relatively well understood, but how Earth system processes responded to these climate changes deeper in time is <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/2/2019/02/SR15_Chapter3_Low_Res.pdf">still something of a mystery</a>.</p>
<p>A recent expedition to <a href="https://iodp.tamu.edu/scienceops/expeditions/indian_monsoon.html">drill deep into the ocean floor</a> of the Bay of Bengal gave an opportunity to reconstruct past Indian monsoon behaviour over hundreds of years before the last ice age.</p>
<p>Our study used these deep sea sediments from the northern Bay of Bengal to capture a direct signal of the Indian summer monsoon from 140,000 to 128,000 years ago, hidden in the fossilised shells of tiny microscopic creatures called foraminifera. These plankton species once lived in the upper ocean water column and captured the environmental conditions of the surrounding seawater in the chemical make up of their shells.</p>
<p>We detected the ocean surface water freshening from river discharge induced by the rains of the Indian summer monsoon from 140,000 to 128,000 years ago – a sign of the strengthening monsoon system. This occurred when the Earth was coming out of a glacial state and into the interglacial which occurred before the one we live in, separated by a single ice age. During this period – which we’ll refer to as the penultimate deglaciation – <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/349/6244/aaa4019">sea levels rose</a> from six to nine metres worldwide.</p>
<p>Ice-core records show that Antarctica began to <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/317/5839/793">warm first during the penultimate deglaciation</a>. Southern Hemisphere warming provided a source of heat and moisture which fuelled the strengthening of the Indian summer monsoon, as seen in our records of surface freshening and river runoff from the northern Bay of Bengal.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264398/original/file-20190318-28496-1w7uxrb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264398/original/file-20190318-28496-1w7uxrb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264398/original/file-20190318-28496-1w7uxrb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264398/original/file-20190318-28496-1w7uxrb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264398/original/file-20190318-28496-1w7uxrb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264398/original/file-20190318-28496-1w7uxrb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264398/original/file-20190318-28496-1w7uxrb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wetland in Leh Ladakh, India. The expansion of tropical wetlands further north released more methane to the atmosphere, accelerating global warming.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/swamp-green-field-blue-sky-summer-535948285">WATHIT H/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During this warming period around 130,000 years ago, the Indian summer monsoon responded to southern hemisphere warming while the northern hemisphere and other monsoon systems, such as the East Asian summer monsoon – which affects modern day China, Japan and the Far East – remained in a glacial state.</p>
<p>The Indian summer monsoon pulled heat and moisture northwards, driving glacial melting in the northern hemisphere and helping tropical wetlands expand their range. These expanding tropical wetlands resulted in more methane release into the atmosphere which <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature06950">caused even more warming</a>, setting changes in motion which ended the global ice age.</p>
<p>The Indian summer monsoon is an incredibly dynamic system. Though confined to the tropics, the system is sensitive to climatic conditions in both hemispheres. Due to its role in contributing to methane emissions, the Indian summer monsoon also has an outsize impact on the global climate. Monsoons should not be viewed in isolation, just as the polar ice sheets shouldn’t. Earth’s internal climate system is intrinsically linked and abrupt changes at one place can have significant consequences over time elsewhere.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/imagine-newsletter-researchers-think-of-a-world-with-climate-action-113443?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=Imagineheader1113504">Climate change is inevitable. Our response to it isn’t. Click here to subscribe to our climate action newsletter.</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113504/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katrina Nilsson-Kerr receives funding from CENTA NERC. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pallavi Anand receives funding from NERC, UK-IODP and Cushman Foundation. </span></em></p>The Indian summer monsoon rainfall affects the lives of over a billion people. By looking at how prehistoric climate changes affected it, scientists can contribute to its future prediction.Katrina Nilsson-Kerr, PhD Researcher in Climatology, The Open UniversityPallavi Anand, Lecturer in Ocean Biogeochemistry, The Open UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1083132018-12-06T11:38:38Z2018-12-06T11:38:38ZNorth Sentinel Island: uncontacted tribes’ ‘right to be left alone’ doesn’t gel with broader human rights<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249231/original/file-20181206-128196-1kez211.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/aerial-view-north-sentinel-island-andaman-1238098006?src=zjXk6IBnf0GFYhot_-07Dw-1-0">North Sentinel Island. Vivaswa/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>John Allen Chau <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/23/world/asia/andaman-missionary-john-chau.html">knew</a> he might die. The 26-year-old US evangelical missionary was killed, in late November, on North Sentinel Island, by members of the indigenous community that he sought to convert to Christianity. He saw this as his life’s mission – and understood the risks.</p>
<p>North Sentinel Island is part of the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal. It is home to the Sentinelese people, who are among the world’s last uncontacted tribes – that is, indigenous groups that maintain no contact with modern civilisation. Most past efforts to contact the Sentinelese have been met with hostility. No missionary has ever got close enough to proselytise to them. Chau took this as a challenge. He was killed shortly after arrival, his body visible from a distance on the beach. Indian police <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-46354940">refrained</a> from retrieving it.</p>
<p>Most of the media coverage has focused on the fact that Chau approached the Sentinelese in violation of Indian law, which protects them from external interference. His mission was deemed at best misguided and at worst plain wrong. Even <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/reader-center/john-allen-chau-missionaries.html">fellow missionaries</a> expressed little sympathy. </p>
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<p>This reaction highlights the fact that <a href="https://www.economist.com/international/2018/12/01/indigenous-peoples-across-the-world-no-longer-seem-doomed-to-extinction">much has changed</a> in the last few decades in the way we think about indigenous people and their rights. The once-common opinion that their best option is to modernise and integrate with the dominant society has lost legitimacy. Thanks to the efforts of <a href="https://www.survivalinternational.org/">indigenous advocates</a> there is now an agreement, enshrined in the 2007 <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html">UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples</a> (UNDRIP), that they have a right to self-determination and autonomy. </p>
<p>In the case of uncontacted peoples, this is interpreted to entail the right to be left alone. Based on this consensus, it is generally understood that governments, researchers and other actors, no matter how well intentioned, should respect such tribes’ apparent unwillingness to engage with the outside world, and refrain from making contact.</p>
<p>Considering the devastating <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030574881000068X">history of colonial interventions</a> in the Andaman Islands and in other regions of the world that are home to uncontacted peoples, it is tempting to imagine that by leaving these groups alone we are correcting mistakes of the past and respecting their “choice”. But it’s key that we think through the assumptions and implications of the “no-contact” path. Can we be sure about what indigenous groups want?</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1065546120611487749"}"></div></p>
<h2>The Sentinelese</h2>
<p>Very little is known about the Sentinelese. No outsider speaks their language. The population <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-46286215">is estimated</a> to number between 50 and 150 people, and it is unclear if the number is stable. </p>
<p>We know that they have been hostile to outsiders historically. There has been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/22/world/asia/andaman-sentinelese-missionary.html">speculation</a> that they choose to reject contact because of previous bad experience. But at other times, there has been <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/surprised-the-sentinelese-killed-someone-first-anthropologist-to-enter-north-sentinel-island/articleshow/66787948.cms">peaceful interaction</a>. Between the 1960s and 1990s, the Indian government sent gift-giving expeditions to the Sentinelese. These gifts were accepted. The expeditions only stopped after it became clear that contact carries the risk of an epidemic. </p>
<p>What did the Sentinelese make of the contact and of its subsequent withdrawal? It is hard to tell without communicating and it seems presumptuous to understand their actions in terms of “<a href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/general-books/psychology/The-Tyranny-of-Choice-Renata-Salecl-9781846681868">choice</a>”, a concept that might make little sense outside our individualistic societies.</p>
<h2>Emergency interventions</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4564847/">Evidence</a> from the Amazon and from other Andaman Islands shows that contacting isolated tribes can have devastating effects on their health. Their immune systems, developed in isolation, are unprepared for outside pathogens, which can decimate populations. Avoiding such exposure is prudent. </p>
<p>But it is difficult to maintain isolation indefinitely. Would there be a way of delivering healthcare in case of accidental exposure to pathogens or natural disaster? The declared goal of a no-contact policy is protecting, as one Indian officer <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/11/26/world/asia/ap-as-india-american-killed.html">said</a>, the “treasure” that are the uncontacted peoples. But how long can a small population, that forms relationships exclusively within the group, stay healthy? It is possible, viewed from this perspective, that a “no contact” policy is too blunt to protect them from disappearance.</p>
<p>And does the right to autonomy necessarily entail the right to be left alone? Autonomy means self-governance. The UNDRIP grants autonomy to indigenous peoples “in matters relating to their internal and local affairs”. But it is up for debate whether, if survival were at stake, it would be deemed a “local” or an “internal” affair. We must ask what the status of the right to autonomy is against other, potentially competing entitlements all humans have such as the right “to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health”.</p>
<p>Ultimately, we should not presume to know what uncontacted peoples want, purely based on their behaviour towards those who, like Chau, trespass on their territory. This knowledge could only be achieved by means of communication. Yes, establishing communication puts uncontacted peoples at risk. But so does opting for “no contact”. While we contemplate this impasse, we should reexamine the commitments made in our human rights documents. Because it’s possible that some rights can only be realised at the expense of others.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108313/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karolina Follis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We need a more nuanced approach to the world’s last isolated peoples.Karolina Follis, Lecturer, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/416722015-05-13T01:12:52Z2015-05-13T01:12:52ZPushed offshore, the ‘boat people’ crisis demands regional response<p>In recent days, some <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32686328">2000 refugees and migrants</a> from Bangladesh and Myanmar have come ashore in Aceh, Indonesia, and Langkawi, across the Strait of Malacca in Malaysia. Thousands more are <a href="http://www.dw.de/iom-up-to-8000-rohingya-and-bangladeshi-migrants-stranded-at-sea/a-18445317">feared stranded</a> on the high seas.</p>
<p>A maritime crisis has been brewing in the waters of the Bay of Bengal for some years now, but it was rarely reported. All eyes have been on the “boat people” <a href="https://theconversation.com/shaping-2015-the-boats-have-stopped-now-the-real-work-begins-in-immigration-36351">arriving on Australia’s doorstep</a> and more recently on those <a href="https://theconversation.com/frontex-cant-solve-the-mediterranean-migration-crisis-on-its-own-heres-why-40606">making it to Europe</a> across the Mediterranean.</p>
<h2>Why are people risking their lives at sea?</h2>
<p>What is driving these people to pay what are, for them, astronomical fees for passage on often unseaworthy vessels?</p>
<p>Several push – and pull – factors are at play for different groups making the treacherous journey across the sea from Bangladesh to Thailand. The two largest groups at sea presently are Bangladeshis as well as Rohingya from Myanmar. </p>
<p>For the former group, economic reasons prevail with the promise of better-paid work in places like Malaysia. There, migrants, legal and illegal, can make sufficient money to send remittances back home, thus sustaining themselves and their families. This is the hope despite the reality of working one or more jobs in at times hazardous circumstances being quite different. Yet they keep coming in search of a better life for themselves and their families.</p>
<p>For <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-23077537">Rohingya</a>, the situation is more complex. There has been a steady stream of irregular migration from their homelands in Myanmar via Bangladesh to Malaysia for more than 20 years. Most Rohingya in Myanmar are considered “resident foreigners” since a <a href="http://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/burma/burm005-02.htm">1982 citizenship law</a> effectively made them stateless and left them without recourse to attain citizenship in Myanmar.</p>
<p>The effects have been all-encompassing for Rohingya. They have had their freedom of movement contained, access to education severed, property confiscated and conscripted into forced labour. </p>
<p>In addition sporadic violence, such as the 2012 riots in Rakhine state, further displaced tens of thousands of Rohingya and led to more fleeing across the border to Bangladesh. There, over 30,000 refugees live in refugee camps while 200,000-500,000 remain undocumented, <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/50001ae09.pdf">according to the UNHCR</a>. </p>
<p>With few opportunities to resettle and/or earn a living, many are attracted to Malaysia, which is seen as a middle-income country awash with opportunity. In addition, Malaysia is perceived to be Muslim in character and many Rohingya are disappointed by the lack of support from their co-religionists there.</p>
<p>The sea journey from Bangladesh to Thailand and the onward overland trek through the jungle to Malaysia has been a popular and affordable way for many Rohingya to make it to protection space that has given most a way to survive and some the means to prosper. I recently talked to a family who arrived in Malaysia with nothing only a few years ago. Today they run a neighbourhood grocery store and are able to send all their children to a school, albeit a refugee school that does not offer certificates.</p>
<p>Even mundane normality is a gift and blessing for them and countless others who are ready to make that journey on a boat in the hope of a better future.</p>
<h2>Flow of boats is increasing</h2>
<p>Human trafficking and people’s irregular movement across the sea from Bangladesh and Myanmar to Thailand have picked up pace as the situation in Myanmar becomes more precarious for Rohingya people especially.</p>
<p>They crowd into the boats and endure long times at sea and in jungle camps along the Thai-Malaysia border. These have made headlines recently for the horrors of <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/learning-from-news/549355/suspected-migrant-graveyard-discovered-in-songkhla">slave labour, extortion and death</a>.</p>
<p>Refugees I have interviewed in Malaysia told me of the cramped and desolate conditions on the boats ferrying them across the Bay of Bengal. One Rohingya refugee spent three weeks on the boat. </p>
<p>They were kept inside the hull of the boat so as not to draw attention to the boat masquerading as a fishing trawler. They were given minimal provisions of food and had to drink seawater for most of the journey. The traffickers had told them they did not want the boat to get messy – i.e. inundated with people’s waste – but at the same time they restricted access to the deck area. </p>
<p>The hardest thing, many told me, was not knowing where they were or what was going to happen next.</p>
<h2>Lives depend on a regional solution</h2>
<p>The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has <a href="http://www.mizzima.com/news-international/iom-calls-se-asia-rescue-thousands-migrants-stranded-sea">appealed to Southeast Asian governments</a> to assist refugees and migrants still at sea and rescue them. The governments of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have remained silent on their rescue efforts. </p>
<p>In the Bay of Bengal there have been many reports of push-backs and tow-backs, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-13/thai-navy-rohingya-refugees/4751896">especially by the Thai navy</a>. One report even claimed the <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/03/13/thailand-fleeing-rohingya-shot-sea-navy">Thai navy shot at Rohingyas</a> arriving by boat. These crude attempts to stem the flow of boats have been unsuccessful.</p>
<p>At the heart of the issue remains the Myanmar government’s approach to minorities in its country. It is by far the largest contributor to refugee flows in the region. </p>
<p>ASEAN and the regional powers, including Australia and the United States, have to take on a more vocal role to secure the rights of displaced people and work together towards a <a href="https://theconversation.com/asylum-solutions-we-need-a-regional-refugee-compact-16815">regional solution</a>. A one-day <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/559203/summit-on-migrant-crisis-set-for-may-29">special meeting set for May 29</a> in Thailand is a good first step. Myanmar is opening up and reforming, but without proper recognition of its minorities and a durable solution to hundreds of thousands of displaced people from Myanmar the boats will keep coming.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/41672/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gerhard Hoffstaedter receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Australia may have ‘stopped the boats’ but the tragedy of people drowning at sea continues to our north and is getting worse. A regional solution to the refugee crisis is urgently needed.Gerhard Hoffstaedter, Senior Research fellow (DECRA) in Anthropology, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.