Environmental News from India:
- India recorded the hottest March in 122 years and since then, there has been hardly any relief from heatwave conditions.
- To seek relief from severe heat, tens of thousands of tourists either visited or are going to the hill stations in northern India, causing massive traffic jams.
- The rush of tourists from plains to hills has highlighted environmental issues plaguing the fragile Himalayas ecosystem such as water shortage and plastic pollution.
- Experts say that tourism beyond the carrying capacity of such ecologically sensitive regions could cause irreversibly harm to the fragile ecosystem of these areas.
“No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn,” says author Hal Borland. But it seems in 2022, spring forgot its annual appointment with northern India as a usually pleasant March was replaced by an unusually hot March, which was the hottest in the last 122 years. In fact, on May 15, Delhi experienced the hottest day of the season with mercury crossing 49 degrees Celsius.
So, while the plains were burning and there was hardly any relief from the scorching sun, tens of thousands of tourists either visited or are planning to go to hill stations in states such as Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh. This has caused massive traffic jams and many experts say that tourism beyond the carrying capacity of such ecologically sensitive regions could cause irreversibly harm to the fragile ecosystem of these areas.
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Source: Mongabay