Final Blog

Nepal and its beautiful landscape has an abundance of woes. Nepal's geology is governed by a complex sequence of historical events which resulted in the extensive rise of the Himalayas. Because of these occurrences, the mountains and hills are young, unconsolidated and fragile as a result of tectonic activity. Adding two gigantic converging tectonic plates underneath all these mountains with unstable rocks does not go well at all. Approximately 86 percent of the country is characterized by steep hills and mountains. Every few decades there has always been that "big one" that greatly affects Nepal and its inhabitants.These shaking events, from weak to strong, characterize Himalayan earthquakes, and major events in the past that caused enormous losses in terms of casualties, injuries, biodiversity, and the country’s economy. Due to a country extremely prone to earthquakes, comes its hazardous consequences. One year after the 2015 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Nepal the destruction didn’t stop with the shaking, The earthquake unleashed more than 10,000 landslides that blocked rivers and damaged houses, roads and other key pieces of infrastructure across the country. Landslides are the most widespread hazard and the primary agent of hillslope erosion in the Nepalese Himalayas. Landslides and debris flows induced by strong coseismic ground shaking are potentially the most destructive earthquake effects, as evidenced by the serious damage and casualties resulting from the 2015 earthquake. Unfortunately earthquakes are not the only contributor to these dangerous landslides. Another geological hazard witness heavy rainfalls every pre monsoon season.  Large amounts of rain has the scale to damage land throughout and also overflow many areas stirring up floods and even worse provoke landslides. Such a disaster causes life loss, damages to multiple bridges, highways, and irrigation channels. In a domino like affect, after the rainfall is over and buildings are destroyed and filled with water due to landslides and floods, the heat then begins to arise, on an already damp land. This then become a hazard for the potential start of wildfires.
In order to combat these hazards and prevent any disasters, their must be a start at the root of all evil. Earthquakes. In a effort to combat ongoing hazards, geoscientist are actively mongering the seismic activity of the Nepalese mountains and that of other regional countries. By monitoring how hillsides evolve, researchers are learning why strong shaking weakens a slope and makes it more prone to give way during aftershocks or rainstorms. Nepal has since set out a push for research on forecasting future earthquakes and seismic activity and give off warnings similar to hurricane warnings. With these warnings, actions could take place with civilizations around potentially hazardous areas could relocate with a given notice and relocate into a safer providence supported by the government. Another factor that could play in with monitoring seismic activity is knowing the pattern in which what area and locations are more affected by landslides. This found information can be vital into the technology that goes into building infrastructures around the area that can withstand earthquake movements, and potentially floods. By starting at the root can potentially help mitigate the chances of stability and less casualties from the geological hazards that many live in.
Cites:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/killer-landslides-the-lasting-legacy-of-nepal-s-quake/

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/nepal-death-toll-from-floods-landslides-rises-to-111/1541314

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/nepal-earthquake-what-can-be-done-to-prevent-similar-disasters-in-the-future-10207748.html

https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/after-devastating-earthquake-nepal-aims-to-reduce-the-risk-of-disaster-through-green-rebuilding

https://weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-precipitation-Rainfall,kathmandu,Nepal

Week 13

 Nepal is a country with considerable social and geographical diversity and faces a number of serious land loss issues The country's main challenges are the increasing population and declining agricultural productivity. Nepal's geology is governed by a complex sequence of historical events which resulted in the extensive rise of the Himalayas. Because of these occurrences, the mountains and hills are young, unconsolidated and fragile as a result of tectonic activity. In Nepal, Soil erosion is a major problem which causes the loss of topsoil and fertility in mountainous terrain in agricultural land. Soil erosion poses a huge threat given the face that Nepal is an agricultural dependent economy contributing over 25 per cent to their national GDP. Agricultural soils have degraded over time and growing pressure has been put on the use of forest resources to meet the basic food needs of the people. A mitigating factor that stirs soil erosion problems is the constant rainfall Nepal has to endure. Large amounts of rainfall harms in more ways than one. Large amounts of rain has the scale to damage land throughout and also overflow many areas stirring up floods and even worse provoke landslides. Such a disaster causes life loss, damages to multiple bridges, highways, and irrigation channels. Around the same time, flooding overflows several villages and kills farm crops on the plain.
Citations:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/425750/nepal-gdp-distribution-across-economic-sectors/

https://www.cimmyt.org/news/new-digital-maps-to-support-soil-fertility-management-in-nepal/