The glacier controversy
It has been reported worldwide that the Himalayan glaciers are retreating fast due to global warming. But now a report released by India’s Ministry of Environment last week claims that the picture of fast retreating glaciers is simply not accurate.
The report, by a senior glaciologist called Vijay Kumar Raina, says that earlier studies based on the measurements of a handful of glaciers did not present a true account, and that in fact, India’s 10,000 plus Himalayan glaciers are not shrinking rapidly in response to climate change.
The report disputes the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC’s) 2007 report, which stated clearly that Himalayan glaciers ‘are receding faster than in any other part of the world and, if the present rate continues, the likelihood of them disappearing by the year 2035, and perhaps sooner, is very high if the Earth keeps warming at the current rate.
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