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India-Pakistan | ||||
India widens climate rift with west | ||||
2009-07-24 | ||||
A split between rich and poor nations in the run-up to climate-change talks widened on Thursday. India rejected key scientific findings on global warming, while the European Union called for more action by developing states on greenhouse gas emissions.
"We have to get out of the preconceived notion, which is based on western media, and invest our scientific research and other capacities to study Himalayan atmosphere," he said. "Science has its limitation. You cannot substitute the knowledge that has been gained by the people living in cold deserts through everyday experience." Mr Ramesh was also clear that India would not take on targets to cut its emissions, even though developed countries are asking only for curbs in the growth of emissions, rather than absolute cuts. His stance was at wide variance with that of Andreas Carlgren, his Swedish counterpart. Sweden holds the European Union's revolving presidency until a conference in Copenhagen in December at which governments will try to hammer out a successor to the Kyoto protocol on curbing greenhouse emissions -- the main provisions of which expire in 2012. Mr Carlgren said in Are, Sweden, that developing countries such as India, China and Brazil must propose more ambitious plans to reduce emissions if they were to receive finance from wealthy nations.
Mr Carlgren went on the offensive on Thursday, saying poorer countries must come up with firm plans to cut emissions before financing will be forthcoming.
Mr Carlgren also criticised rich countries for failing to agree to cut their emissions by the amounts needed. "So far, what we have seen from other countries is too low. We expect more from developed countries," he said.
India has taken the hardest line in the negotiations so far. Along with China, India refused at the meeting of the Group of Eight industrialised nations this month to sign up to a target of cutting global emissions by half by 2050. The countries were holding out to gain concessions from the west on financing. The claims from Mr Ramesh that Western science was wrong on the question of melting Himalayan glaciers appeared to reinforce Delhi's recalcitrant stance. Mr Ramesh on Friday reiterated that India would not accept emissions caps to held curb global warming, Bloomberg reported. "The world has nothing to fear from India's development ... An artifical cap is not desirable and not even necessary as we haven't been responsible for emissions in the first place," he said. Earlier this week, he also challenged Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, over her appeal to India to embrace a low-carbon future and not repeat the mistakes of the developed world in seeking The consequences of depleted glaciers -- sensitive to rising temperature and humidity -- would be dire. Seven of the world's greatest rivers, including the Ganges and the Yangtze, are fed by the glaciers of the Himalayas and Tibet. They supply water to about 40 per cent of the world's population. Water supply is likely to become an increasing national security priority for both India and China as they seek to maintain high economic growth rates and sustain large populations dependent on farming. Some scientists have warned that rivers such as the Ganges, Indus and Brahmaputra could become seasonal rivers as a result of global warming. Indians are also fearful of weakening monsoon rains. Some parts of India, including Delhi, the capital, are still waiting anxiously for this year's rains to come in earnest. A late, or a poor, monsoon would be a drag on economic growth. Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN Environment Programme, has described melting glaciers as a "canary in the climate-change coal mine", warning that billions of people depend on these natural water storage facilities for drinking water, power generation and agriculture. Mr Ramesh said the rate of retreat of glaciers in the Himalayas varied from a "couple of centimetres a year to a couple of metres", but that this was a natural process that had taken place occurred over the centuries. Some were, in fact, growing, he said. The glaciers -- estimated by India's space agency to number about 15,000 -- had also been affected by debris and the large number of tourists, he said. | ||||
Posted by:john frum |
#1 Some experts have questioned the alarmists theory on global warming leading to shrinkage of Himalayan glaciers. VK Raina, a leading glaciologist and former ADG of the Geological Survey of India is one among them. He feels that the research on Indian glaciers is negligible. Nothing but the remote sensing data forms the basis of these alarmists observations and not on the spot research. Raina told the Hindustan Times that out of 9,575 glaciers in India, till date, research has been conducted only on about 50. Nearly 200 years data has shown that nothing abnormal has occurred in any of these glaciers. It is simple. The issue of glacial retreat is being sensationalised by a few individuals, the septuagenarian Raina claimed. Throwing a gauntlet to the alarmist, he said the issue should be debated threadbare before drawing a conclusion. Surprisingly, Raina, who has been associated with the research and data collection in over 25 glaciers in India and abroad, debunked the theory that Gangotri glacier is retreating alarmingly. Maintaining that the glaciers are undergoing natural changes, witnessed periodically, he said recent studies in the Gangotri and Zanskar areas (Drung- Drung, Kagriz glaciers) have not shown any evidence of major retreat. "Claims of global warming causing glacial melt in the Himalayas are based on wrong assumptions," Raina, a trained mountaineer and skiing expert said. He rued that not much is being done by the Government to create a bank of trained geologists for an in-depth study of glaciers. |
Posted by: john frum 2009-07-24 16:23 |