According to a 16-year-long study conducted by scientists at the Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES) and the Divecha Centre for Climate Change (DCCC), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), large mammalian herbivores like the yak and ibex play an important role in sustaining the pool of soil carbon in grazing ecosystems like the Spiti region in the Himalayas.
A Month Since Chamoli Disaster, Scientists Have Reason To Anticipate More 07/03/2021
A view of the portion of the Rishi Ganga river ravaged by floods on February 7, 2021. Photo: Reuters/Anushree Fadnavis.
New Delhi: A month after the disaster in Chamoli district in Uttarakhand, in which at least 70 persons died and 130 or so more remain missing, scientists from three premier institutions have analysed more data to determine the likely cause of the incident – including heavy snowfall just before the day of the disaster, an overall increase in ambient temperature in the area, a rock and ice avalanche at an altitude of 5,600 metres, and a large volume of meltwater and glacial moraine hurtling down a narrow gorge.
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BHUBANESHWAR: On Sunday morning, Feb. 7, as most of the working-class in India’s Himalayan state of Uttarakhand went about their chores, the glacier-fed Rishi Ganga river started rising. Two hours later, swollen with rock debris and snowmelt, its waters rose 53 feet the height equivalent of a five-storey building.
The Dehradun-based Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), part of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), estimates that approximately 2 to 3 million cubic metres of water was released in the surrounding rivers.
As the brown-grey, monstrous body of water crashed down the steep river path, hilltop residents first to see it lost no time. Mothers called their sons working on the construction of the 480 MW Tapovan-Vishnugad hydro-power project and dam and urged them to flee.
On Sunday morning, Feb. 7, as most of the working-class in India’s Himalayan State of Uttarakhand went about their chores, the glacier-fed Rishi Ganga river started rising. Two hours later, swollen