Climate Change Seriously Damaging Asia’s Water Tower

By: G M Mourtoza on October 7th, 2009

Scientists say global warming is melting the Himalayan glaciers, creating lakes in the mountains. Sooner or later these lakes may overflow, flooding downstream areas and leaving many people homeless refugees.

The scientists’ warning was spelt out at a journalists’ workshop recently held in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, on the theme “The Third Pole Project: Covering Climate Change in the Himalayas”. It was organised by the Earth Journalism Network and China Dialogue.

A total of 25 journalists from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Bhutan and Nepal took part in the three-day event, timed to allow participants also to cover a conference entitled “Kathmandu to Copenhagen:  South Asia’s Regional Climate Change” held in Nepal at the same time.

The Himalayas and Hindu Kush are becoming known as the Earth’s “Third Pole” because they contain more ice than anywhere else on the planet outside the Arctic and Antarctic. The editor of China Dialogue, Isabel Hilton, told The Daily Sunshine the region is the largest safe water source in Asia, which is why it is also called the continent’s water tower.

She said global warming and excessive emissions of black carbon in China and India are causing rapid melting of the Himalayas and Hindu Kush, creating more than three thousand lakes,  27 of which have reached a dangerous level. Black carbon is a form of air pollution caused by biomass burning, cooking with solid fuels, and diesel exhausts, and scientists are increasingly concerned about its effect on the climate.

She said the media can play a very significant role in making people aware of climate change. They can also give ideas to policymakers on ways to measure its negative impacts,  and on diplomatic approaches to obtaining compensation from rich countries for the climate change their industries have caused.

James Fahn of Earth Journalism Network told The Daily Sunshine the main objective of arranging the workshop was to give a detailed understanding to the journalists about how the Third Pole is becoming affected by climate change.

Asked whether the goal had been achieved, Mr Fahn said it certainly had.  “From this workshop South Asian journalists have come to know in detail how and how much the Third Pole is affected”, he said. “They have already published many reports, and they will be publishing many more in the coming days. As a result, the people of this region will come to know the negative impacts of climate change on the Third Pole.”

(This is an edited version of a report published on 13 September in The Daily Sunshine, Bangladesh.)