HIMALAYA: Exploring the roof of the world, by John Keay Bloomsbury, 38.99)
Himalaya isn’t just a mountain range, magnificent home to the 14 so-called eight-thousanders and the 100 highest mountains in the world. It is also the name of the vast, rumpled plateau stretching from Tajikistan and Afghanistan to Myanmar via Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal, the former kingdom of Tibet and China.
It is bordered by more mountain ranges: the Hindu Kush and the Pamirs, Kunlun, Karakoram and the Trans-Himalaya ranges of Tibet soaring peaks and plunging valleys draped over and along national borders like the folds of a sari.
Himalayan glaciers feed the Indus and the Amu Darya rivers, the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Mekong. Billions of people depend on the waters flowing from this natural water tower”.
Ideally, such a critically important region would be seen as a single fragile eco zone, like Amazonia, Antarctica or Australia, argues English author John Keay.
But if this is one of the most seismically active areas in the world, it is also one of the most politically riven, encompassing Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kashmir and Tibet.
この記事は New Zealand Listener の March 4-10 2023 版に掲載されています。
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この記事は New Zealand Listener の March 4-10 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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