India

Ashok K. Dutt

INDIA WILL BE greatly affected by global warming. The effect will be experienced in the reduction of snow cap size in the Himalayas, retreat of glaciers that feed the rivers, an increased flooding of the snow-fed rivers initially, followed by partial drying up of the rivers, and formation of new lakes and flooded lakes at upper altitudes. Outside the polar region, the Himalayas contain the largest volume of ice. The size of this ice depends on South Asian monsoons, as well as the winter precipitation that the area receives resulting from the flow of moisture-laden winds that originate in the North Atlantic Ocean and pass through the Mediterranean Sea. About six centuries of historical records and analyses of ice dust and chloride concentrations in the Tibetan ice field have shown that there were modest monsoon failures in India in 1230,1280,1330, 1530, 1590, and 1640. The most catastrophic failure, with severe ...

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