Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
8.2 CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
IN ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Climate and the environment are strongly integrated into cultures, religions, and
ethnic values of the people in South Asia and elsewhere. The rise and fall of the
Indus Valley civilization is strongly linked to the change in climate. The Harappa
and Mohenjo-Daro flourished between 2800 and 2600 BC and vanished in 1900
BC, probably because of drastic climate change resulting in aridization of the region
(Singh 1971; Lamb 1982). The Indus Valley civilization, larger in area than the Nile
Valley and Mesopotamian civilizations combined, flourished when the rainfall of
the region was 500-600 mm/year compared with 100-300 mm since its extinction
(Lamb 1982). The region, under stronger development of the summer monsoonal
rainfall, had dense vegetation and was a habitat for elephants ( Elephas maximus ),
rhinoceros ( Rhinoceros unicornis ), water buffaloes ( Bubalus arnee ), and other large
animals. The hydric civilization perished with the onset of drought in ~1500 BC,
which also coincided with the migration of the Aryans into the Indus Valley. The
central theme of the post-Harappan Aryan civilization (the Vedic culture) was based
on nature worship (Enzel et al. 1955; Wassan et al. 1984). The nature worship by Indo
Aryans is exemplified in the Prasna Upanishad, which states that the human body is
made of five elements, “kshiti (soil), jal (water), pawak (energy), gagan (sky/space),
sameera (air); panch (five) tatva (elements) yah (from) adham (made) sharira (body).”
Thus, these five elements are objects of worship and reverence among several South
Asian cultures. Three of these five elements (soil, air, and water) constitute nature or
the environment. Buddhism also promotes nature worship, and the principal objects
of worship include forests, rivers, and mountains, and the belief in the close inter-
dependence between humans, animals, water, Earth, Sun, Moon, and stars (Singh
and Asce 2008). Similar to Hindu and Buddhist beliefs, the importance of water
is also highlighted in Islamic teachings and scriptures. Prophet Mohammed stated
that, “Do not overuse water even if you are on a running river.” The Holy Quran
state, “... Heavens and earth were joined together... we made from water every liv-
ing things” (Holy Quran, Soorah Al-Anbea, verse 30) (Al-Senafy and Akber 2002;
Singh and Asce 2008).
South Asian countries have experienced thousands of years of hydric civilization
(Gunnell and Krishnamurthy 2003; Gunnell et al. 2007). Some have argued that the
Anthropocene may have commenced ~10,000 years ago with the dawn of settled
agriculture that prompted deforestation, biomass burning, soil cultivation, and emis-
sion of GHGs into the atmosphere (Ruddiman 2003). However, climate change and
other environmental issues of the Anthropocene are major challenges now than ever
before, and must be effectively addressed. Thus, it is important to understand the
impacts of climate change on water resources and the environment.
8.3 CLIMATE CHANGE AND WATER RESOURCES IN SOUTH ASIA
Most countries in South Asia are endowed with abundant water resources (Table 8.1).
Yet there is an increasing gap between demand and supply of water throughout South
Asia. The scarcity of water, also manifested in regional and international conflicts, is
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