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Saturday, Aug 04, 2007
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Foray into Arctic to study climate change

P. Sunderarajan

— Photo: V. V. Krishnan

New initiative: Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal with members of India’s first expedition to the Arctic, in New Delhi on Friday.

NEW DELHI: With climate change increasingly becoming a hot global issue, Indian scientists are set to go over to the Arctic region for a first-hand understanding of all aspects of the phenomenon.

Launching the first-ever Indian scientific expedition to the icy region on Friday, Earth Sciences Minister Kapil Sibal said that not only the Arctic Ocean but also surrounding areas were one of the most important regions which governed the earth’s climate. Studies also showed a tele-connection between the northern polar region and the intensity of Indian monsoon.

The Indian scientists will try to unravel the exact mechanism by which the tele-connection functions. They will conduct studies on thermohaline circulation which, originating in the northern Atlantic and southern Arctic, not only drives oceanic circulations but also regulates global climate. There are apprehensions that any change in this phenomenon could pose a threat to the Arctic region and thereby to global climate, sea level and biodiversity.

(There are three main processes that make the oceans circulate: tidal forces, wind stress and density differences of seawater. As the density of seawater is controlled by its temperature (thermo) and salinity (haline), the circulation driven by its density differences is called thermohaline circulation. Some scientists have speculated that global warming could slow down or even shut down the circulation, leading to cooling in the north Atlantic which, in turn, could have an impact on global climate.)

Emphasising that the expedition would be an annual event, one in summer and the other in winter, Mr. Sibal said that under the new Indian Arctic research programme, scientists would also conduct studies on use of arctic microbes in biotechnology and glaciology, geology and palaeoclimatology studies. The Arctic Ocean and its surrounding regions were considered an excellent ground for studying the history of global climate, apart from its future.

Experiments would be conducted at Ny-Alesund, located on the west coast of Spitsbergen, the largest island in the Svalbard archipelago of Norway. This is where international arctic research facilities are located. Currently, Norway, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Japan, South Korea and China have their own research stations there. Russia proposes to start its own soon.

Asked whether India would also have a permanent research station, Mr. Sibal that at the moment there was no proposal and it might be considered later. The expeditions would cost about Rs. 1 crore each, he said to another question.

Expedition team

The first expedition would be led by the Director of the Goa-based National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), Rasik Ravindra. The members are S. Shivaji, Deputy Director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad; C.G. Deshpande, scientist from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune; D.S. Singh, lecturer, University of Lucknow, and S.M. Singh, scientist from NCAOR.

According to senior Ministry officials, apart from conducting land-based studies, there are proposals to launch oceanographic expeditions to the Arctic Sea in India’s own research vessel later. The first set of expeditions is being planned for the Arctic summers of 2009-10 and 2011-12.

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