Question

Living with floods
1. Floods are not new to India and this sub-continent, but in recent years the
problem has received much greater attention perhaps largely because it has
led to much greater damage than in the past. Even though information on
the impending occurrence of floods is now more accurate and certainly
more timely, often there is very little time or support infrastructure in
place by which damage can be minimized. This is particularly true in the
case of flash floods resulting from sudden and excessively heavy rain.
2. In the case of India flooding is very much a function of the seasonal nature
of our rainfall. The monsoons are spread over a short period during the
year and often bring a concentrated volume of rain, which cannot be
absorbed by the earth and finds outlet only in the form of streams that join
up with our major river systems. But, flooding is not confined only to the
main rivers of the country, often smaller tributaries and streams can cause
heavy damage as well. Once these streams spill over their banks they
could cause excessive harm, mainly because those living near the banks of
these streams particularly in mountain areas do not have easy recourse to
moving away quickly.
3. One major factor that could lead to a higher severity of flooding in the
future is the danger of climate change. While the evidence of the nature of
impacts resulting from climate change on precipitation and flooding at the
regional level is not entirely clear, it could happen that the Indian
subcontinent witnesses and suffers the effects of a significantly changed
pattern of monsoons. One set of scientists has estimated that the monsoons
could be shorter in duration, but far more intensive. In other words, much
greater precipitation would take place in a much shorter period of time,
thereby increasing the danger of floods. Climate change is the result of
human actions through the increased concentration of greenhouse gases in
the atmosphere, of which carbon dioxide is the most prominent.
4. At the local level also human actions have heightened the danger of flood
through the cutting of trees in the mountains as well as in the plains. In the
case of India, the ecological damage through deforestation of the
Himalayas has led to large-scale erosion of the mountain slopes and high
levels of siltation. This leads to deposition of silt on the riverbeds in the
plains and hence spill over of water whenever the volume in the river
reaches a certain level. With siltation on the river beds, flooding occurs
even at very shallow water levels. The vulnerability of the population has
increased substantially because of population pressures, symbolized, for
instance, by the stubborn and perhaps helpless settling of slum dwellers on
the banks of the river Yamuna in Delhi, which is merely a trickle most of
the year, but bursting its banks during the monsoons as has been the case
this vear​

Answer 1

Answer:

thx!

Explanation:

it helped me

Answer 2

Answer:

the worst bit people are the slum dwellers because