Pachauri rubbishes government stand on melting glaciers
RANDEEP RAMESH
— Photo: R. Bhattacharji
Grim forecast: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had warned that Himalayan glaciers were receding at an alarming rate.
A leading climate scientist recently accused India’s environment ministry of “arrogance” over a government report claiming there was no evidence that climate change has caused “abnormal” shrinkage of glaciers in the Himalayas.
Jairam Ramesh, the country’s environment minister, released the controversial report in Delhi, saying it would “challenge the conventional wisdom.”
Two years ago, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that Himalayan glaciers were receding faster than those in any other part of the world and could disappear altogether by 2035, if not sooner.
On November 9 Ramesh denied any such risk existed, and said he was prepared to take on “the doomsday scenarios of Al Gore and the IPCC.”
He said: “There is no conclusive scientific evidence to link global warming with what is happening,” adding that although some glaciers were receding they were doing so at a rate that was not historically alarming.
“My concern is that this comes from western scientists ... it is high time India makes an investment in understanding what is happening in the Himalayan ecosystem,” he said.
Report dismissed
Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the IPCC, dismissed the report as not peer reviewed and having few scientific citations.
He said: “I don’t know why the minister is supporting this unsubstantiated research. It is an extremely arrogant statement.” In one remarkable finding, the report claims the Gangotri glacier, the main source of the river Ganges, receded fastest in 1977 and is today “practically at a standstill.” Some scientists have warned the river beds of the Gangetic Basin - which feed hundreds of millions in northern India — could run dry if the glaciers melt. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2009
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