Professor – Hasnain’s Response
Media Alert: 20 January 2010
Prof Hasnain rebuts with Scientific Research Based Facts
Certain prejudicial forces have mounted a concentrated campaign to denigrate scientists who have established the impact of climate change – and one such vilification is against my diligent research on the glaciers of the Himalaya.
While I am not answerable to those who deny climate change is happening – and numerous instances are there in front of our eyes for all to see, with satellite images consistently accessing even the remotest zones over a period of time – but vested interests have targeted my research with the overall objective to malign the science of climate change and scientists who have succeeded in establishing the correlating factors.
For this, I present a factual rebuttal of the misrepresentation of facts.
First and foremost, I assert that I am a scientist — with …. years of painstaking study, collation and analyses of field experience who relies more on facts and figures – and not an astrologer who may give any date on the demise of glaciers. To reiterate, I have not given any date or year on the likely disappearance of Himalayan glaciers — neither in any interview nor in any of my publications in various journals.
Whatever got published in New Scientist (‘Flooded Out’, 05 June 1999, by Fred Pearce) was a journalistic assumption interpolated by the interviewer, over which I had no control. During the interview I presented the outcome of the findings on the basis of 20 years of my research till 1999.
The statement I gave — on the basis of the results being found till then — was: “All the glaciers in the middle Himalayas are retreating…” — and a scientific postulation was made that all the glaciers in the central and eastern Himalayas could disappear in the next 40-50 years at their present rate of decline.
Moreover, this postulation factually represented the findings based on research techniques and instruments available in 1980s and 1990s. Now, we have more sophisticated and accurate instruments and techniques, as compared to those 10 years back. So precision has increased and the new results are coming out.
I must stress that a journalistic substitution of the year 2035 was made – without my knowledge and approval – that was markedly contrary to my research supported finding of the likelihood of the central and eastern Himalaya glaciers disappearing in “40-50 years”.
It is now well established that climate change is being driven by long lived Green House Gases as well as short lived forcers like Black Carbon, and has its impact globally. However, the intensity of impact is governed regionally and locally. Micro-level climatic as well as topographical variations — like slope facies etc. — have strong influence on local level impacts of global warming.
With reference to climate change and its impacts on Himalayan glaciers, can there be any doubt on the pathetic state of the Himalayan glaciers! This has been affirmed by the findings of research works, published in peer-reviewed journals after 1990s, as well as the present research work being carried out by me and my team.
All these findings indicate towards the negative mass balance of the Himalayan glaciers studied, whether by remote sensing or field based monitoring techniques. Moreover, the analysis of data presented in the report released from the MoEF in November 2009, supports the alarming rate of melting of Himalayan glaciers.
The detractors should note that my research speaks for itself. To buttress this, very soon I will be presenting a report on the status of Himalayan Glaciers, based on research works by Indian and International scientists on Himalayan glaciers published in different peer reviewed journals across the world.
Prof Syed Iqbal Hasnain
Senior Fellow
The Energy & Resources Institute
New Delhi.
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