Gangotri – Its Health Is YoursGangotri? Which major river is among the most threatened in the world? And why should it matter to you?
NASA There is a great Himalayan glacier that provides 70% of its melt-water to the Ganges in India. Similar Himalayan glaciers feed the Brahmaputra river and China's Yellow River, the Yang tze Kiang. These river systems feed hundreds of millions of Indians and Chinese through the agriculture and horticulture they enable. The one we're talking about here is Gangotri. But over the last 20 years it has melted at the greatest pace of any of the glaciers that are now melting all over our planet. For example, the Alpine glaciers have almost lost 50% of their ice within the last 100 years. Seven of the 18 glaciers on Mt Kenya, Africa have disappeared entirely already and the same is true for 14 of the 27 glaciers in Spain. The great Himalayan glaciers may be gone by 2030 or 2035. Montana USA? There were 150 glaciers in its Glacier National Park in 1850. Today there are 50 and those will be gone in decades, at the current rate. But because of altitude-related higher temperature increases, the Himalayan glaciers are melting the most rapid of all of them. Melting Glaciers Like Gangotri Are Reliable Messengers Why are melting glaciers a particularly good indicator of global warming? They are so large, solid and stable that only long-term temperature variations would show up. The melting of glaciers worldwide is the result of about 1C increase in global temperature since the 1800's, when the Industrial Revolution first swung into full gear. Gangotri A Worry For Me? So, should you be worried? Well, certainly if you directly depend on these hydrological systems... YES. The minimum increase in global temperaturesforecast by the IPCC is 1.8C by 2100 with 4C, or even 6C, a possibility depending on actions we take. The river systems that are fed in summer by their melt water are highly vulnerable to drying up into a series of small lakes, raising serious concerns for the lives of countless people and for natural environments. The Ganges alone provides more than 500 million Indians with water for drinking and farming. Yes, there will be an increase in monsoonal rains. But floods and mudslides don't really help. Ironically, India and China are those two countries most directly affected by this development are also those increasingly burning more coal to fuel their ballooning economic development – pumping those very greenhouse gases into the air that contribute to this great melt. But if you live elsewhere? Should you be worried then? YES ! We are all connected. To each other and to our environments.We all face our own local effects of global warming and we all live in countries that send way too much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. And do you think that the suffering of these hundreds of millions Chinese, Indian and others will not affect you, perhaps in the US, or Europe, or Australia? Well, prepare for many climate change refugees, for armed conflict between countries hungry for energy, water and food. For local weather extremes, higher food and fuel prices, food shortages, and transport disruption. Not scare mongering! The Schwarz and Randall Report (2003) let the cat out of the bag about what it is that governments know. Gangotri Is On Your Doorstep Just as a disabled Ganges will disrupt the spiritual practices of millions of Hindus who revere it, Gangotri's disablement from millions of small human acts that caused it, affect you.Perhaps you do not accept that the current climate change indicators, including melting glaciers (pretty hard to fake!) are man-made in origin. But it just does not seem possible for our children to have a future in a civilized world if we do not reduce energy use, population growth, and pollution – if we do not act now. If we do not drastically change our thinking drastic change will do it for us. A civilized world is one of genuine care. For each other and our environments. And genuine "care" is about understanding the planet's need, to accept responsibility for it, to act competently and act together. Wherever you live, Gangotri is much closer than you think.There are things you can do to help the great Gangotri. Yes, you as one little individual can. Just by acting in a caring way:
That's how to stop the Gangotri disappearing. Drop by little drop. What are you doing about it today?
Even investing in greening your roof might help Gangotri.
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