Glaciology centre to study melting of Himalayan glaciers

Shimla,October30: The Glaciology centre, the first of its kind in the country, will be set up in one of the Himalayan states to study melting of glaciers, amid findings that about 21 per cent of the snow cap had receded in the ranges in the last four decades.

The proposed centre would come up in any of the Himalayan states of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir,Uttrakhand, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, said Akhilesh Gupta, Advisor, Union Science and Technology Department.

Glaciology is the scientific study of the internal mechanism of glaciers and their effects on eco-systems.

Studies had come out with shocking findings that Himalayan glaciers had melted by about 21 per cent during the period from 1966 to 2004 under the impact of global warming, Gupta, also coordinator of National Mission on Sustaining Himalayan Eco-systems, said.

Himalayan glaciers are the main source of water for major rivers in north India.On developed countries asking India to cut down its carbon emission, Gupta said the country's carbon emission rate was already low.

Melting Himalayan glaciers endanger Bhutan,Sikkim and North East India

Mount Jomolhar the highest peak in Bhutan.

Reports indicate that the melting of the Himalayan glaciers is threatening the kingdom of Bhutan, the impacts of which will adversely affect the entire South Asian region including Bhutan,Sikkim and north-east India.

According to a report in Nature News, glaciers in the Himalayas are retreating faster than in any other part of the world and they could disappear completely by 2035. This puts the mountainous nation of Bhutan at a special risk. In an area smaller than Switzerland, it has 983 glaciers and 2,794 glacial lakes, some of which have burst to produce deadly glacial lake floods.

A nation without even its own helicopter, Bhutan lacks the resources to combat global warming. It is carrying out the work at Thorthormi glacier with the help of money from various international donors.

As the first nation to get adaptation money from the Least Developed Countries Fund, Bhutan is something of a pioneer among developing nations in their quest to adapt to a warmer future, and the struggles at Thorthormi glacier illustrate the enormous obstacles that adaptation efforts still face. It is only within the past decade that researchers realized that Thorthormi could pose a threat. Thorthormi’s ponds were expanding and merging to form larger bodies of water. The changes have been dramatic even in the past few months. “Just before we started our work here in July this year, that part of the lake was water,” said Karma Toeb, the project’s glaciologist and team leader, pointing down to a number of icebergs. “The ice blocks have been breaking off the mother glacier upstream,” he added.

According to Thinley Namgyel, the deputy chief environment officer at the National Environment Commission in Thimphu, “A few decades down the line, the glaciers will retreat and we are not sure what impact it will have on the economy.” But, the impacts of the melting of the Himalayan glaciers will reach far beyond Bhutan’s borders. The glacier-fed rivers that flow south from the Himalayas are the arteries of south Asia.

It is estimated that the retreat of glaciers will affect the water supply of roughly 750 million people across South Asia and China, according to Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Across Asia, there are countless cases like Thorthormi, where the needs are great and the resources scarce. Regarding the effects of climate change and their costs, “every single estimate that people have come up with has been exceeded by reality”, said Dr. Pachauri. “The impacts of climate change are clearly turning out to be much worse than what we had anticipated earlier,” he added.

Study On Snow and glacier of Sikkim Himalaya

Cause for fear
State concerned by report from UN panel on global warming, glacial melting.

Will assess potential impact of climate change on its eco-system, livelihood.

Receding glaciers may be disastrous to hydel power plants being built.



Gangtok, October15: Alarmed by the steady rate at which glaciers in the Himalayas are receding, the Sikkim Government has constituted a Commission to study the state of the glaciers and its impact on the water system in this tiny Himalayan State.

The nine-member Commission is headed by Prof. S. Hasnain, Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi.

The Commission will review the current status of glaciers and snowmelt and potential impact of climate change on the mountain eco-system and suggest measures for modem scientific and technological intervention.

The Commission will also compile information from primary and secondary sources on glaciology, assess the potential impact of climate change on the mountain eco-system and livelihood in Sikkim, and suggest inter-disciplinary remedial steps.

Hydro projects


This has come at a time when the Sikkim Government has drawn up ambitious plans to harness the vast hydro-power potential of the State and has 23 hydro power projects in the pipeline.

Six mega power projects are being planned on the Teesta, the biggest river in the State, of which the 510-MW Teesta Stage V power project is nearly complete and is scheduled to be commissioned in December.

Sikkim has large number of glaciers which are natural reservoirs for the supply of water to the major river systems of the State. Reports by the UN inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change regarding global warming and glacial melting have set alarm bells ringing in the State.

Likely impacts


The receding glaciers and recurring phenomenon of glacial lake-outburst floods that have been recorded in the entire eastern Himalayan region, could directly impact the livelihood of a huge mass of hill and mountain people, as well as prove disastrous to the array of hydel power plants being built in the Teesta and other river basins in Sikkim and neighbouring States like West Bengal.

The Chief Minister, Mr Pawan Chamling, had written to the Prime Minister in August, extending the State Government’s keenness to be associated with the working of the high level advisory group on climate change — the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change — constituted by the Union Government.

By Sarikah Atreya

Sikkim's largest glacier melting

Gangtok , Aug6: Alarmed over reported shrinkage of the 26 km Zemu glacier in the eastern Himalayas, which is the main source of water for Teesta river, due to global warming, Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling has sought an"authentic report"on the issue.

At a meeting with Forest department officials, Chamling sought an&aposauthentic report&aposabout the glacier receding , an official release said today.

In an interim report presented to the state government earlier this year, it was revealed that the glacier has shrunk by three to six meters.

The report said that in some cases the recession of pristine glaciers was caused by under-construction power projects which raised the temperature affecting the ecology and environment of the state.

A status report on all glaciers was prepared by a study team comprising eminent experts at the initiative of the Science and Technology department last year.

Sikkim has the largest number of 84 glaciers, with Zemu being the biggest.

Forest and Wildlife Secretary S T Lachungpa said he would soon form a committee on climate change to study the impact of global warming on glaciers in the Himalayan state before compiling a report.

It would take a couple of months to study the physical status of the Zemu glacier, he said.
PTI

Himalayan Glaciers on Sikkim study table

Gangtok, Sept. 17: The Sikkim government has constituted a commission to study the glaciers in the state and their impact on the river system amid fear that the glaciers are melting at a faster rate.
The commission will be headed by S.I. Hasnain, senior fellow, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, and comprise scientists and environmentalists from across the country. The members include Mahendra P. Lama, the vice-chancellor of the central university in Sikkim, and the former chief secretary of the state, K.C. Pradhan.
Apart from reviewing the current status of the glaciers and snowmelts, the commission will also study the impact of climate change on the mountain eco-system. It will suggest the scientific and technological intervention and human resource generation required for better management of the environment.
The commission has been asked to submit its recommendations by December 2008 .
The development comes in the wake of unconfirmed reports that the Zemu glacier in North Sikkim, which is the source of the Teesta, was melting at a faster rate than before, leading to flash floods. Last month, two bridges were washed away by the Zemu Chu, or Teesta, at Zema in the North district.
Sikkim has a large number of glaciers and they act as natural reservoirs and supply water to the major rivers of the state.
The state government’s announcement regarding the formation of the commission referred to the “receding glaciers” and “recurring phenomenon of glacial lake outbursts and floods that have been recorded in the entire eastern Himalayan region”. It added that such a phenomenon could impact people’s livelihood and the “array of hydel power plants that are being built on the Teesta and other river basins” in Sikkim.

A NEW BRIDGE ON ZEMA CHU IN NORTH SIKKIM

GANGTOK, September 14: The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has restored the road communication to North Sikkim with the construction of a bridge on Zema Chu within three weeks of it being washed away by the flash flood on August 25 earlier this year.
About 120 feet Bailey Bridge has been constructed over Zema Chu. The bridge was open for traffic yesterday at 7 pm.
In addition to washing away the existing two bridges on the river, the flash flood had damaged 800 mtrs of road which had totally cut off North Sikkim from the rest of the state.
However, responding promptly to the situation, 86 RCC work force prepared the abutment and site for bridge construction. Working relentlessly day and night, the BRO constructed the 120 feet Bailey Bridge in less than 24 hours once the construction was started after preparation of the abutments and site.
A press release from BRO states that the organisation has promptly stood against the natural calamity and showed highest order of professionalism in order to restore the communication.
Earlier on 26 August, Mr AK Dikshit, Commander, 758 BRTF visited the site and selected the bridge site. After the channel got stabilized, labours of GREF worked round the clock which was supervised by Maj Jasvinder Singh under the watchful eyes of Officer Commanding 86 RCC, Lt Col Vishal Guleria.
The Chief Engineer, Project Dantak , Brig Rajesh Tyagi also visited the site from Thimpu and took stock of the situation. Before the bridge was launched, the Army Engineers had connected the gap by launching an Aerial Cable Way which facilitated the supply of essential stores and ration for sustenance of troops deployed in North Sikkim.

ZEMU GLACIER SHELF BREAK - a rumour or reality

The Zemu glacier is situated in a large U-shaped valley at the base of the Kanchenjunga massif in northwestern Sikkim. It has a length of about 26 km and is the largest and the most famous glacier of the eastern Himalaya. The Teesta River rises from the snout of this glacier.
Many tributary glaciers feed the trunk glacier. The side valleys in which these glaciers lie open into the main Zemu Valley from different directions. Icefalls and waterfalls have formed at the junction of the tributary glaciers with the Zemu glacier.

There was unconfirmed reports coming regarding breaking of the Zemu glacier today.Zemu Glacier shelf is break and a significant driving in Teesta river is shown, which may cause danger for river bank side inhabitants, a source said last night telephonically. This flow may collapse, and damage the surrounding bedrock. News on Zemu Glacier shelf break is rumor relating a fact that a blocked was made after land slide on the path of Zemu Chu* (Poke Chu). The blocked was opened yesterday which cause for significant water flow in river Teesta is rumored as Zemu glacier shelf break, government official said today telephonically. (* river)