editorial:-
World Environment Day was observed across the world on Thursday on the theme, “Small Islands and Climate Change”. The UN slogan for environment this year is, “Raise your voice, not the sea level”. The worry is clearly the inundation of the world should the planet keep heating up. Sikkim might not be at risk of being swamped like the small islands, but in the scale of the Himalayas and the fate of its glaciers, the State is a “small island” at risk of being swamped. It thus needs to pay close attention to environmental issues and recall the W.E.D. theme from a few years ago – “Melting Ice – Hot Topic”. Global warming, melting glaciers, coasts at risk of going under are topics of concern that the present generation has grown up with and the fact that Environment is still remembered on its Day with reference to possible inundation and Climate Change highlights just how much more needs to be done in this regard. A promise made in the SDF election manifesto ten years ago for the 2004 elections led to the eventual institution of an Expert Group to study the state of Sikkim’s glaciers and their impact on water bodies here. Sikkim has always depended on its water resources and is now investing extensively on it hoping to deliver a more prosperous future. Studying the glaciers that feed Sikkim’s water bodies should have been a prerequisite to begin with instead of coming later, and when it finally did come through, should have received a much wider circulation. In fact, given the temperamental nature of its rivers, glaciers and slopes, Sikkim should have always had a standing Expert Group for its glaciers. That did not happen and it appears not enough attention is still being paid. A recent study from FutureWater, Utrecht University, and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), reveals that retreating glaciers and increased precipitation will lead to a situation where the amount of water supplied by the Himalayan mountains will increase in the coming decades. River flow will increase at least until 2050. Shouldn’t such revelations mandate an expediting of how Sikkim prepare for Climate Change. The Green Mission, for instance, needs to be implemented in the earnest to conserve the existing water bodies and understanding the glacial melt graph higher up in the Himalaya.
World Environment Day was observed across the world on Thursday on the theme, “Small Islands and Climate Change”. The UN slogan for environment this year is, “Raise your voice, not the sea level”. The worry is clearly the inundation of the world should the planet keep heating up. Sikkim might not be at risk of being swamped like the small islands, but in the scale of the Himalayas and the fate of its glaciers, the State is a “small island” at risk of being swamped. It thus needs to pay close attention to environmental issues and recall the W.E.D. theme from a few years ago – “Melting Ice – Hot Topic”. Global warming, melting glaciers, coasts at risk of going under are topics of concern that the present generation has grown up with and the fact that Environment is still remembered on its Day with reference to possible inundation and Climate Change highlights just how much more needs to be done in this regard. A promise made in the SDF election manifesto ten years ago for the 2004 elections led to the eventual institution of an Expert Group to study the state of Sikkim’s glaciers and their impact on water bodies here. Sikkim has always depended on its water resources and is now investing extensively on it hoping to deliver a more prosperous future. Studying the glaciers that feed Sikkim’s water bodies should have been a prerequisite to begin with instead of coming later, and when it finally did come through, should have received a much wider circulation. In fact, given the temperamental nature of its rivers, glaciers and slopes, Sikkim should have always had a standing Expert Group for its glaciers. That did not happen and it appears not enough attention is still being paid. A recent study from FutureWater, Utrecht University, and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), reveals that retreating glaciers and increased precipitation will lead to a situation where the amount of water supplied by the Himalayan mountains will increase in the coming decades. River flow will increase at least until 2050. Shouldn’t such revelations mandate an expediting of how Sikkim prepare for Climate Change. The Green Mission, for instance, needs to be implemented in the earnest to conserve the existing water bodies and understanding the glacial melt graph higher up in the Himalaya.
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