Bangalore: Union Minister for Forest and Environment Jairam Ramesh today said there was need for setting up India`s own research initiatives to measure and monitor climate change as much of the data derived from western sources was found to be "biased".
"The tragedy today is all knowledge on climate change in
India is derived from western source, much of which is biased.
No primary monitoring is done in India," the minister told
reporters here.
He said in 1990, US estimated that methane gas emission
from paddy cultivation in India was 38 million tonnes per year
but an Indian scientist later proved the emission from such
cultivation varied from two to six million tonnes, with the
median being four million tonnes.
The minister said all data on Himalayan glacier was from
western sources based on Artic glacier. "However the structure
of the Artic glacier was different from Himalayan glacier."
The major objective of setting up institutes like the
Indian Network for Comprehensive Climate Assessment, involving
127 research bodies, and the National Institute of Climate
Institute was to build "monitoring, measuring and modelling"
capabilities and to respond innovatively and creatively to
climate change.
He said ISRO`s plans to launch dedicated satellites to
measure and monitor greenhouse emissions was to "demonstrate
to the world that we are serious about global warming". India
would be among the few countries like Japan and those in
Europe to have such dedicated satellites, he said.
Bureau Report
