Melting of glaciers, cause for concern: Pachauri
Ahmedabad, (PTI): Rapid melting of Himalayan glaciers has major implications for water supply in the northern part of the Indian sub-continent, Chairman of the Inter-governmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC), Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, said on Monday.
He said the melting of glaciers because of global warming has left the scientific community worried. "The glaciers in the Himalayas are melting at a very rapid rate which has major implications for water supply in the Northern part of the (Indian) sub-continent," Pachauri said at the 4th International Conference on Environment Education.
"Because most of our rivers originate in those glaciers, there is a strong likelihood of a reduction in water supply," he remarked.
"This has also lead to sea-level rise. In the 20th century, the sea-level rose by 17 centimetres. That is a significant increase," the Nobel laureate said.
"At this rate, we are likely to find that in the 21st century sea-level rise will be anywhere between 18 to 59 centimetres," he said.
"This incidentally does not take into account the possibility of the collapse of Greenland and the Antarctica ice-sheet," he said.
"Now, if that were to happen, we will get sea-level rise to several metres and affect the geographical features of the earth," he said.
National
