abstract:Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of alcohol consumption, tobacco use and risky sexual behaviour among adolescents, and to evaluate the socioeconomic factors potentially influencing these behaviours. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from January to April 2011 among 376 adolescents (15-19 years old) studying in different schools and colleges in Udupi, India. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey questionnaire and guidelines were followed for data collection. Participants' alcohol consumption, smoking habits and sexual behaviour patterns were explored. Univariate analysis followed by multivariate logistic regression was done. Results: The prevalence of alcohol consumption, tobacco use and sexual activity was found to occur in 5.7%, 7.2% and 5.5% of participants, respectively. The mean age of the participants' first sexual activity, consumption of alcohol and tobacco use was reported to be approximately 16.8 years. Multivariate analysis showed that males were more likely to have used alcohol and tobacco. Other factors, such as religion and tobacco use among family members, were found to be influential. Conclusion: The potential coexistence of multiple risk behaviours in a student demands an integrated approach. Emphasis should be placed on health education in schools and an increased awareness among parents in order to prevent adolescents' behaviours from becoming a risk to their health. Keywords

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There is a need to identify students at risk and for intervention addressing the risk factors. Further qualitative studies could provide more insight.

Thermokarst (Thaw) lakes are landforms found in topographic depressions created by thawing ground ice in permafrost zones. They play an important role in the regulation of climatic functions. These lakes are a manifestation of warming surface temperatures that accelerates the ice-rich permafrost to degrade by creating marshy hollows/ponds. In the current global warming scenario, the thermokarst lakes in the high mountain regions (Himalaya) are expected to grow further. This accelerate permafrost thawing which will affect the carbon cycle, hydrology and local ecosystems. This phenomenon has attracted huge scientific attention because it has led to a rapid mass change of glaciers in the region, including extensive changes occurring on peri-glacial environments. The most striking fact is the release of an enormous amount of greenhouse gases, including methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide that is locked in these lakes. The present study delves into the thermokarst lakes in the upper reaches of Chandra Valley and Western Himalaya. The study also aims at designating the impact of their changes on the ecosystem, particularly their influence on the atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations.

Accelerated glacier mass loss is primarily attributed to greenhouse-induced global warming. Land–climate interactions have increasingly been recognized as an important forcing at the regional-local scale, but the related effects on the Himalayan glaciers are less explored and thought to be an important factor regulating spatial heterogeneity. The aim of the present study is a multi-decadal approximation of glacier—hydroclimate interaction over the western region of the central Himalaya (WCH). Multi-species, highly coherent, tree-ring cellulose δ18O chronologies from three sites across the WCH were used to derive atmospheric humidity (Atmospheric Moisture Content: AMC) record of the last four centuries. Annual-scale AMC reconstruction implies a decreasing regional atmospheric moisture since the mid-19th century and a sharp decline in recent decades (1960s). Coherency analyses between regional AMC and glacier mass balance (GMB) indicate an abrupt phase-shift in the relationship after the 1960s within a common record of the last 273 years. To ascertain the cause of this phase-shift, annual AMC was disintegrated into seasonal-scale, utilizing ∼200 years of δ18O record of a deciduous tree species. Seasonal (winter: October–March; summer: April–September) AMC reconstructions and disaggregation results indicate higher sensitivity of regional ice-mass variability to winter moisture dynamics than summer.Winter season AMC reconstruction confirms a revival of winter westerlies-driven moisture influx in the region since the 1970 s. Meanwhile, the record for the summer season AMC indicates a gradual decline in moisture influx from the beginning of the 20th century. Interestingly, despite a prominent decline in Indian summer monsoon (ISM) precipitation after the mid-20th century, the summer season AMC—GMB relation remained stable. We hypothesize that decadal-scale greening, and consequently increased evapotranspiration and pre-monsoon precipitation might have been recycled through the summer season, to compensate for the ISM part of precipitation. However, isotope-enabled ecophysiological models and measurements would strengthen this hypothesis. In addition, high-resolution radiative forcing and long-term vegetation greening trends point towards a probable influence of valley greening on GMB. Our results indicate that attribution of ice mass to large-scale dynamics is likely to be modulated by local vegetation changes. This study contributes to the understanding of long-term hydroclimate—ice mass variability in the central Himalaya, where predictions are crucial for managing water resources and ecosystems.