Northern South Asia Research Articles

The influence of ozone precursor emissions from four world regions on tropospheric composition and radiative climate forcing

Ozone (O3) precursor emissions influence regional and global climate and air quality through changes in tropospheric O3 and oxidants, which also influence methane (CH4) and sulfate aerosols (SO42−). We examine changes in the tropospheric composition of O3, CH4, SO42− and global net radiative forcing (RF) for 20% reductions in global CH4 burden and in anthropogenic O3 precursor emissions (NOx, NMVOC, and CO) from four regions (East Asia, Europe and Northern Africa, North America, and South Asia) using the Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution Source‐Receptor global chemical transport model (CTM) simulations, assessing uncertainty (mean ± 1 standard deviation) across multiple CTMs. We evaluate steady state O3responses, including long‐term feedbacks via CH4. With a radiative transfer model that includes greenhouse gases and the aerosol direct effect, we find that regional NOx reductions produce global, annually averaged positive net RFs (0.2 ± 0.6 to 1.7 ± 2 mWm−2/Tg N yr−1), with some variation among models. Negative net RFs result from reductions in global CH4 (−162.6 ± 2 mWm−2 for a change from 1760 to 1408 ppbv CH4) and regional NMVOC (−0.4 ± 0.2 to −0.7 ± 0.2 mWm−2/Tg C yr−1) and CO emissions (−0.13 ± 0.02 to −0.15 ± 0.02 mWm−2/Tg CO yr−1). Including the effect of O3 on CO2 uptake by vegetation likely makes these net RFs more negative by −1.9 to −5.2 mWm−2/Tg N yr−1, −0.2 to −0.7 mWm−2/Tg C yr−1, and −0.02 to −0.05 mWm−2/Tg CO yr−1. Net RF impacts reflect the distribution of concentration changes, where RF is affected locally by changes in SO42−, regionally to hemispherically by O3, and globally by CH4. Global annual average SO42− responses to oxidant changes range from 0.4 ± 2.6 to −1.9 ± 1.3 Gg for NOxreductions, 0.1 ± 1.2 to −0.9 ± 0.8 Gg for NMVOC reductions, and −0.09 ± 0.5 to −0.9 ± 0.8 Gg for CO reductions, suggesting additional research is needed. The 100‐year global warming potentials (GWP100) are calculated for the global CH4 reduction (20.9 ± 3.7 without stratospheric O3 or water vapor, 24.2 ± 4.2 including those components), and for the regional NOx, NMVOC, and CO reductions (−18.7 ± 25.9 to −1.9 ± 8.7 for NOx, 4.8 ± 1.7 to 8.3 ± 1.9 for NMVOC, and 1.5 ± 0.4 to 1.7 ± 0.5 for CO). Variation in GWP100 for NOx, NMVOC, and CO suggests that regionally specific GWPs may be necessary and could support the inclusion of O3 precursors in future policies that address air quality and climate change simultaneously. Both global net RF and GWP100 are more sensitive to NOx and NMVOC reductions from South Asia than the other three regions.

Revisiting Asian monsoon formation and change associated with Tibetan Plateau forcing: I. Formation

Data analysis based on station observations reveals that many meteorological variables averaged over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are closely correlated, and their trends during the past decades are well correlated with the rainfall trend of the Asian summer monsoon. However, such correlation does not necessarily imply causality. Further diagnosis confirms the existence of a weakening trend in TP thermal forcing, characterized by weakened surface sensible heat flux in spring and summer during the past decades. This weakening trend is associated with decreasing summer precipitation over northern South Asia and North China and increasing precipitation over northwestern China, South China, and Korea. An atmospheric general circulation model, the HadAM3, is employed to elucidate the causality between the weakening TP forcing and the change in the Asian summer monsoon rainfall. Results demonstrate that a weakening in surface sensible heating over the TP results in reduced summer precipitation in the plateau region and a reduction in the associated latent heat release in summer. These changes in turn result in the weakening of the near-surface cyclonic circulation surrounding the plateau and the subtropical anticyclone over the subtropical western North Pacific, similar to the results obtained from the idealized TP experiment in Part I of this study. The southerly that normally dominates East Asia, ranging from the South China Sea to North China, weakens, resulting in a weaker equilibrated Sverdrup balance between positive vorticity generation and latent heat release. Consequently, the convergence of water vapor transport is confined to South China, forming a unique anomaly pattern in monsoon rainfall, the so-called “south wet and north dry.” Because the weakening trend in TP thermal forcing is associated with global warming, the present results provide an effective means for assessing projections of regional climate over Asia in the context of global warming.

Proto-Tibeto-Burman Grain Crops

The Tibeto-Burman (TB) languages are spread over the entire Himalayan region, from Kashmir in the west, across northern South Asia, southwestern China and northern mainland Southeast Asia, in a wide variety of ecological zones from very high altitude to tropical. They include over 200 languages falling into four major subgroups (Western, Central, Sal, Eastern), with various additional smaller subgroups (Bradley 2002). Much ink has been spilled in the linguistic literature about the original homeland of the early Tibeto-Burman groups, but it is clear that this must have been somewhere south and west of the early Chinese civilization in the upper Yellow River valley. One frequent hypothesis is that the area of greatest genetic linguistic diversity within a language group is the point of origin; on this criterion, this would be in the mountains of northeastern India, southeastern Tibet and northern Burma, where the four major subgroups meet and there are some additional smaller subgroups as well. If this is so, we would expect highland grain crops indigenous to this area to have been the staple, if agriculture was present before the breakup of Proto-TB or Proto-Sino-Tibetan (ST). The TB languages with the longest literary history include Tibetan (7th C. AD), Burmese and Newari (both early 12th C. AD). Tibetan tradition lists six main crops including five grains plus beans. Burmese tradition has seven main grain crops. Sagart (1999) has hypothesized that the Sinitic groups had five major crops: three grains, Setaria italica millet, Panicum miliaceum millet and rice, plus beans, and later wheat, introduced about 4000 years BP. The location and date of rice domestication(s) is contested, as other speakers will certainly discuss. Even for grains first domesticated elsewhere, it is not unreasonable for there to have been Proto-TB etyma (cognate words) if they were introduced early enough. This paper will explore some of the etyma that we would expect to find among TB groups for the grain crops domesticated in the area, including rice, millets including Setaria, Panicum and Eleusine coracana as well as buckwheat, Job’s tears and older introduced crops such as sorghum, wheat and barley.

Orientalism and the language of Hindustan

Jonathan Arac, ‘From north Indian vernaculars to a new world philology’ Aamir R. Mufti, ‘Orientalism and the language of Hindustan’ Rashmi Dube Bhatnagar, ‘What's Braj got to do with the Hindi–Urdu divide?’ Mehr Afshan Farooqi, ‘Āb‐e gum, or “Disappeared Water” as a metaphor for language, location, and loss This cluster of papers carries forward Critical Quarterly's emphasis on language in society and history. They offer incisive, innovative perspectives on several major debates concerning vernacular languages of northern South Asia. Hindi and Urdu have been the languages of Indian‐Hindu and Pakistani‐Muslim nationalism, extending over the arc from British colonialism to Independence and Partition (1947), and continuing in the seven decades since. Both languages arise from the north Indian everyday speech called, in its own terms, Kharī bōlī and known in the nineteenth century as Hindustani (unsuccessfully revived by Gandhi as a unifying term and concept). The only definitive distinction between them is the alphabet: Hindi is rendered in Devanagari; Urdu in a right‐to‐left script derived from Persian and Arabic.

Āb‐e gum, or ‘Disappeared Water’, as a metaphor for language, location, and loss

Jonathan Arac, ‘From north Indian vernaculars to a new world philology’ Aamir R. Mufti, ‘Orientalism and the language of Hindustan’ Rashmi Dube Bhatnagar, ‘What's Braj got to do with the Hindi–Urdu divide?’ Mehr Afshan Farooqi, ‘Āb‐e gum, or “Disappeared Water” as a metaphor for language, location, and loss This cluster of papers carries forward Critical Quarterly's emphasis on language in society and history. They offer incisive, innovative perspectives on several major debates concerning vernacular languages of northern South Asia. Hindi and Urdu have been the languages of Indian‐Hindu and Pakistani‐Muslim nationalism, extending over the arc from British colonialism to Independence and Partition (1947), and continuing in the seven decades since. Both languages arise from the north Indian everyday speech called, in its own terms, Kharī bōlī and known in the nineteenth century as Hindustani (unsuccessfully revived by Gandhi as a unifying term and concept). The only definitive distinction between them is the alphabet: Hindi is rendered in Devanagari; Urdu in a right‐to‐left script derived from Persian and Arabic.

What's Braj got to do with the Hindi–Urdu divide?

Jonathan Arac, ‘From north Indian vernaculars to a new world philology’ Aamir R. Mufti, ‘Orientalism and the language of Hindustan’ Rashmi Dube Bhatnagar, ‘What's Braj got to do with the Hindi–Urdu divide?’ Mehr Afshan Farooqi, ‘Āb‐e gum, or “Disappeared Water” as a metaphor for language, location, and loss This cluster of papers carries forward Critical Quarterly's emphasis on language in society and history. They offer incisive, innovative perspectives on several major debates concerning vernacular languages of northern South Asia. Hindi and Urdu have been the languages of Indian‐Hindu and Pakistani‐Muslim nationalism, extending over the arc from British colonialism to Independence and Partition (1947), and continuing in the seven decades since. Both languages arise from the north Indian everyday speech called, in its own terms, Kharī bōlī and known in the nineteenth century as Hindustani (unsuccessfully revived by Gandhi as a unifying term and concept). The only definitive distinction between them is the alphabet: Hindi is rendered in Devanagari; Urdu in a right‐to‐left script derived from Persian and Arabic.

From north Indian vernaculars to a new world philology Introduction

Jonathan Arac, ‘From north Indian vernaculars to a new world philology’ Aamir R. Mufti, ‘Orientalism and the language of Hindustan’ Rashmi Dube Bhatnagar, ‘What's Braj got to do with the Hindi–Urdu divide?’ Mehr Afshan Farooqi, ‘Āb‐e gum, or “Disappeared Water” as a metaphor for language, location, and loss This cluster of papers carries forward Critical Quarterly's emphasis on language in society and history. They offer incisive, innovative perspectives on several major debates concerning vernacular languages of northern South Asia. Hindi and Urdu have been the languages of Indian‐Hindu and Pakistani‐Muslim nationalism, extending over the arc from British colonialism to Independence and Partition (1947), and continuing in the seven decades since. Both languages arise from the north Indian everyday speech called, in its own terms, Kharī bōlī and known in the nineteenth century as Hindustani (unsuccessfully revived by Gandhi as a unifying term and concept). The only definitive distinction between them is the alphabet: Hindi is rendered in Devanagari; Urdu in a right‐to‐left script derived from Persian and Arabic.

Southern hemisphere perspectives on the end-Permian life crisis and the triassic recovery

displace the older polar faunas. The generic counts for west Texas, paleotropical in the Permian, indeed show that genera were much more numerous in paleotropics of the Permian than in the high latitude polar to subpolar and high temperate latitudes of Australia, and species also are far more numerous. But, for Australia, analysis of the geographic spread and origins of each genus from extensive data sets summarized in Waterhouse (2002b) certainly indicates that Phylum Brachiopoda, within Australia, owed little to evolution within the Permian or Carboniferous tropics. They actively immigrated from northern polar regions, from Patagonia and South Asia, and evolved locally. A meager few show tropical ties.

Ecogeographic and evolutionary approaches to improving adaptation of autumn-sown chickpea ( Cicer arietinum L.) to terminal drought: The search for reproductive chilling tolerance

Terminal drought is the most important abiotic stress of dryland chickpea. The principal adaptive strategy of the crop is drought escape through early phenology. In regions where average temperatures at flowering <14–16 °C, such as southern Australia or northern South Asia, the lack of reproductive chilling tolerance forces chickpea to delay podset. This delay compromises drought escape by exposing chickpea to terminal drought during much of the pod filling phase, reducing yield potential and stability, depending on seasonal climatic fluctuations. This paper defines chickpea growing seasons in time throughout the crop's global production regions using published data and feedback from local breeders. This information is used to calculate and map regionally specific chickpea bioclimatic variables such as flowering phase temperatures and the peak rate of growing season temperature change. Flowering phase temperatures <14 °C are uncommon. Mediterranean climates in southern Australia, Chile, California and Portugal tend to be cool during flowering (<15.4 °C), while much of WANA is moderate to warm (15.4–24.4 °C), with exceptions in coastal N Africa, the Nile valley and higher elevations in Morocco, the Balkans, central Afghanistan, NE and SW Iran. Ethiopia contains a wide range of flowering phase temperatures depending on altitude. In South Asia flowering phase temperatures tend to decrease with increasing latitude, with large cool regions in the Punjab, N Haryana, N Uttar Pradesh and the Nepali terai. Superimposing the peak rates of temperature change within the growing season identifies habitats which are likely to be consistently cool throughout the reproductive phase by eliminating regions with transient chilling stress, such as much of N South Asia. It is suggested that reproductive chilling tolerance is rare in chickpea because of the late Neolithic shift from autumn to spring sowing in WANA, and subsequent dissemination into predominantly moderate to warm flowering habitats with only transient low temperature stress. The search for reproductive chilling tolerance should concentrate on these relatively uncommon consistently cool habitats. These are not well represented in the world chickpea collection, a shortcoming which is exacerbated by the lack of passport data in regions of potential interest from Iran to Central Asia. An alternative strategy is to search for reproductive chilling tolerance in the wild Cicer species, which have maintained a winter annual lifecycle and appear to be more cold tolerant than the cultigen. This approach is limited by the lack of germplasm. Currently, there are <30 original wild accessions in the primary genepool of chickpea ( C. reticulatum, n = 18; C. echinospermum, n = 10) in the world's genebanks, so more collection is required.

The effects of Southeast Asia fire activities on tropospheric ozone, trace gases and aerosols at a remote site over the Tibetan Plateau of Southwest China

Tropospheric ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), total reactive nitrogen (NOy) and aerosols (PM2.5 and PM10) were measured on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau at Tengchong (25.01◦N, 98.3◦E, 1960 m a.s.l.) in Southwest China, where observational data is scarce, during a field campaign of the TAPTO-China (Transport of Air Pollutants and Tropospheric O3 over China) in the spring of 2004. Fire maps derived from satellite data and backward air trajectories were used to trace the source regions and transport pathways of pollution. Ozone, CO, NOy, PM10 and PM2.5 had average concentrations of 26 ± 8 ppb, 179 ± 91 ppb, 2.7 ± 1.2 ppb and 34 ± 23 and 28 ± 19 μg/m3, respectively. The measured O3 level is low when compared with those reported for similar longitudinal sites in Southeast (SE) Asia and northeastern Tibetan Plateau in Northwest China suggesting that there exist complex O3 variations in the Tibetan Plateau and its neighbouring SE Asian region. High levels of pollution with hourly averages of O3, CO, NOy, PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations up to 59, 678 and 7.7 ppb and 158 and 137 μg/m-3, respectively, were observed. The increase of pollutants in the lower troposphere was caused by regional built-up and transport of pollution from active fire regions of the SE Asia subcontinent and from northern South Asia. Our results showed that pollution transport from SE Asia and South Asia had relatively stronger impacts than that from Central and South China on the abundance of O3, trace gases and aerosols in the background atmosphere of the Tibetan Plateau of Southwest China.

Mind the Gap: The chronology of Painted Grey Ware and the prelude to Early Historic urbanism in northern south Asia

(2004). Mind the Gap: The chronology of Painted Grey Ware and the prelude to Early Historic urbanism in northern south Asia. South Asian Studies: Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 37-44.

Interpretation of TOMS observations of tropical tropospheric ozone with a global model and in situ observations

We interpret the distribution of tropical tropospheric ozone columns (TTOCs) from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) by using a global three‐dimensional model of tropospheric chemistry (GEOS‐CHEM) and additional information from in situ observations. The GEOS‐CHEM TTOCs capture 44% of the variance of monthly mean TOMS TTOCs from the convective cloud differential method (CCD) with no global bias. Major discrepancies are found over northern Africa and south Asia where the TOMS TTOCs do not capture the seasonal enhancements from biomass burning found in the model and in aircraft observations. A characteristic feature of these northern tropical enhancements, in contrast to southern tropical enhancements, is that they are driven by the lower troposphere where the sensitivity of TOMS is poor due to Rayleigh scattering. We develop an efficiency correction to the TOMS retrieval algorithm that accounts for the variability of ozone in the lower troposphere. This efficiency correction increases TTOCs over biomass burning regions by 3–5 Dobson units (DU) and decreases them by 2–5 DU over oceanic regions, improving the agreement between CCD TTOCs and in situ observations. Applying the correction to CCD TTOCs reduces by ∼5 DU the magnitude of the “tropical Atlantic paradox” [Thompson et al., 2000], i.e. the presence of a TTOC enhancement over the southern tropical Atlantic during the northern African biomass burning season in December–February. We reproduce the remainder of the paradox in the model and explain it by the combination of upper tropospheric ozone production from lightning NOx, persistent subsidence over the southern tropical Atlantic as part of the Walker circulation, and cross‐equatorial transport of upper tropospheric ozone from northern midlatitudes in the African “westerly duct.” These processes in the model can also account for the observed 13–17 DU persistent wave‐1 pattern in TTOCs with a maximum over the tropical Atlantic and a minimum over the tropical Pacific during all seasons. The photochemical effects of mineral dust have only a minor role on the modeled distribution of TTOCs, including over northern Africa, due to multiple competing effects. The photochemical effects of mineral dust globally decrease annual mean OH concentrations by 9%. A global lightning NOx source of 6 Tg N yr−1 in the model produces a simulation that is most consistent with TOMS and in situ observations.

Indigenous people and co-management: implications for conflict management

Co-management agreements among indigenous people, state agencies, and other stakeholders offer substantial promise as a way of dealing with natural resource conflicts in a participatory and equitable manner. However, experience shows that co-management regimes can set into motion new conflicts or cause old ones to escalate. In practice the result may not be power sharing but rather a strengthening of the state’s control over resource policy, management, and allocation. Instead of contributing to local empowerment, such arrangements may further marginalize communities and resource users. We use case material, primarily from northern Canada and South Asia, to explore the pervasive role of conflict in generating, shaping, and influencing the performance of co-management regimes. The paper analyzes the divergent interests and motives of state agencies in planning and implementing co-management arrangements. It highlights the cultural, political, and legal obstacles encountered by indigenous people and other rural communities in trying to negotiate co-management arrangements. We also explore the conflicts that can arise in co-management regimes where local participation in decision making is very limited. General lessons and recommendations are drawn from our analysis. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.