Srinagar, Mar 17: Vice-Chancellor of University of Kashmir Prof Talat Ahmed has appreciated the efforts of the Department of Earth Sciences KU to bag mega research project on Himalayan glaciers.
 Pertinently, Department of Science and Technology, GOI has sanctioned a mega multi-partner research initiative on Himalayan glaciers with partners from Kashmir university (Earth Sciences), Jammu University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Sikkim University.
 The research project budgeted at Rs 185 million has been sanctioned primarily to strengthen the in-situ observations and model development that are lacking in Himalayas, which is one of the largest glaciers covered regions of the world.
 Prof Talat Ahmad said: “The initiative aims at conducting sustained research at micro-scale to establish climate change-cryosphere dynamic linkages.”
 Prof Shakil A Romshoo, Head, Department of Earth Sciences who is coordinating the Initiative at the KU said that, besides the economic and technical aspects, political considerations about the changing Himalayan cryosphere are significant and need to be taken into account in this context. He said that the Himalayan water resources are shared between India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh through different treaties. He said that a more solid scientific knowledge in regard to currently available and changing water resources is mandatory to address and successfully solve emerging issues on sharing of waters in south Asia.
 Prof Romshoo said that we are expecting new and improved algorithms for the analysis of multi-source data being generated under the project that are transferable to other glacial regions. He said that an Ice-Core Analysis Lab, first of its kind is being set-up as a national facility under the initiative at the Department of Earth Sciences, KU.
 Pertinently, changes in Himalayan cryosphere due to climate change are now being considered as one of the catalytic forcing adversely impacting human and ecological regimes in South Asia. About a billion people are dependent on the water resources originating from snow and glacier melt in the Himalayas and support the lifelines in South Asian countries (Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh) providing freshwater not only for drinking water, but also for irrigation and energy production. 
 As a sequel to the IPCC goof off statement of vanishing Himalayan glaciers by 2035, which caused considerable irritation among the scientific community and emphasized the need for more detailed knowledge of glacier and snow cover changes in the region and how they might be affected under changing climate conditions, the research the present initiative assumes significance.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 17 Mar 2013 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 17 Mar 2013 18:30:00 GMT
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