Global warming and Himalayan Glaciers

Scientists have now established that the earth's temperature is rising . This heating process that raises the earth's temperature is known as the global warming. It is now found that earth's surface temperature rose by about 0.6 celsius degrees in the last 100 years. Without remedial measures, many fear that the global temperature will rise 1.4 to 5.8 celsius degees by 2100.

The warmer earth's temperature could melt parts of polar ice caps and most mountain glaciers, causing a rise in the sea -level of up to 1m within a century, which would cause flood on coastal regions. Global warming could also affect weather patterns causing prolonged drought or increased flooding in some world's leading agricultural regions. The Himalayan glaciers would completely melt away within a period of about a century.In the process of melting new glaciers lakes would be formed, which would pose serious threat to life and properly of the people living nearby.

Glacier lakes danger to Nepal-:
At present glaciers are retreating in the Himalayan region, as a result glacier lakes are being formed. This disrupts communication systems and various infrastructures like the hydropower in direct or indirect ways, subjecting to the periodic catastrophic floods. Glacier lake outburst floods also produce peaks in sediment transfer.

In 1988 a joint team of Sino-Nepalese conducted the studies of the glaciers lakes in the Arun and the Sun-Kosi Basins. According to the findings of that studies , there are many glacier lakes in Arun, Tama Kosi, Bhote kosi, Trisuli, Buri Gandaki and Karnali basins. Xizang of China have some records of the glacier lake outburst floods events. Another study covered Lower Barun, Chamlang Tsho, Naulekh, Sabai Tsho, Dudh Kund, Morang, Tsho Rolpa, Duwo,Thulagi glacier lakes.

There have been many outburst History of Glacier Lakes-:
On August 4, 1985 the nearly completed Namche hydropower plant was completely destroyed by the Dig Tsho glacier lake outburst flood.It destroyed not only the Namche hydropower station but also all the bridges, trails, cultivation fields, houses, livestock along it’s path to the confluence of the Dudh-Kosi rivers at a distance of 90 km from the Dig Tsho glacier.
Since the 1940s there have been at least 10 cases of glacier outbursts within the basins investigated.

Himalayan glaciers are now retreating due to global warming and as a result new glacier lakes are being formed. At present the world attention is drawn to finding ways to resolve the global warming problems.

President Obama's answers to environmental questions

In November 2007, a small group of six US citizens-two screenwriters, a physicist, a marine biologist, a philosopher and a science journalist-began working to restore science and innovation to America’s political dialogue. Here are Barack Obama’s answers to some of their questions with global reference-:

The US must get off the sidelines and take long overdue action to reduce it’s own greenhouse gas emissions. This is a global problem.US leadership is essential but solution requires contribution from all parts of the world particularly China, Europe and India.

President Obama-:”I will restore U.S. leadership in strategies for combating climate change and work closely with international community. I will create a global energy forum-based on the G8+5 ,which includes all G-8 members plus Brazil, China, India , Mexico and south Africa,comprising the largest energy consuming nations from both the developing and developed world. This forum would focus exclusively on global energy and environmental issues and will also create a technology transfer Program dedicated to exporting climate-friendly technologies, including green buildings, clean coal and advanced automobiles, to developing countries to help them combat climate change.”

He said further-:”America’s challenges in providing secure,affordable energy while addressing climate change mean that we must make much more efficient use of energy and begin to rely on new energy sources that eliminate or greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

The President proposed programs that , taken together , would increase the federal investment in the energy research , development , deployment by $150 billion over ten year.

He also encouraged communities around the world to design and build sustainable commodities that cut energy use .

Production of climate-resistant crops

Climatic change have affected so many other faculties around the world, some we are aware of and others we are not. In other word,the impact of climate change can be considered huge in various fields, e.g. there has been production of climate-resistant crops as a result of that-:

Recently,some of the agricultural bio-technological companies have claimed that they have produced, genetically engineered climate –resistant crops in view of the changing world climate.Such crops would not be affected by the extremes of temperature. But the environmental activists are speaking out against it claiming it as biopiracy.

Biotech companies say that these new crops will be able to withstand the harsh environmental conditions of the a future planet affected by climate change. But the activists argue that the industry is simply looking to profit from long-established traditional knowledge.

There is no law that requires the disclosure of the origin of biological resources or associated traditional knowledge. Many countries are trying to acknowledge the production of origin of such crops and to share the benefits if at all.

The applications for the so-called climate ready genes have already been submitted around the world. But it may only be the new strategy by the biotech industry to profit from climate change. They might have seen a silver lining in climate change, an opportunity to assert that agriculture can only win the war against climate change with genetic engineering.