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Melting Himalayan glaciers threaten 1.3 bln Asians
Source: Mumbai Mirror, Mumbai, Date: , 2009
More than a billion people in Asia depend on Himalayan glaciers for
water, but experts say they are melting at an alarming rate, threatening
to bring drought to large swathes of the continent. Glaciers in the
Himalayas, a 2,400-kilometre (1,500-mile) range that sweeps through
Pakistan, India, China, Nepal and Bhutan, provide headwaters for Asia's
nine largest rivers, lifelines for the 1.3 billion people who live
downstream.But temperatures in the region have increased by between 0.15
and 0.6 degrees Celsius (0.27 and 1.08 degrees Fahrenheit) each decade
for the last 30 years, dramatically accelerating the rate at which
glaciers are shrinking.As world leaders gather in Copenhagen this month
for a crucial climate change summit, campaigners warn that some
Himalayan glaciers could disappear altogether within a few decades. The
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a UN body regarded as
the world's top authority on climate change, has warned Himalayan
glaciers could "disappear altogether by 2035" and experts say the
effects of global warming are already being felt in the region. Experts
say the resulting water shortages could hit the economic development of
China and India, with potentially dire consequences for development in
two of the world's most populated countries.Even in low-lying
Bangladesh, prone to severe floods, the IPCC has said rivers could run
dry by the end of the century.But research on the impact of global
warming on the rugged and inaccessible Himalayas remains sparse, with
the IPCC describing the region as a "blank spot" due to a lack of
scientific data.Even the experts disagree on the issue, with some
arguing that some of the Himalayan glaciers are actually advancing.
India's Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh recently came under fire for
denying that climate change was causing Himalayan glaciers to melt,
citing research by the Indian geologist Vijay Kumar Raina.
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