Climate change has put at risk many of mountain glaciers of Nepal and if timely steps for minimizing the ill effects of climate change are not taken, they will burst anytime, state-run daily The Rising Nepal reported on Thursday.
Nepali environment experts on Wednesday expressed their views at a talk program on "Increasing danger from the glacier and the measure to be taken to minimizing the glacier burst" held in capital Kathmandu.
At the program, Udaya Raj Sharma, Secretary at the Ministry of Environment, said that the problem of the glaciers bursting has not become an issue for other nations who possessed big industries that produced harmful gases. These nations have not shown any interest in addressing the problems of glaciers' eruption.
Therefore, Sharma urged the government to take necessary steps to inform the big nations about the Nepal's problems. From the government level, the big nations and their big industries should be told to decrease the production of greenhouse gas.
If the glaciers of Nepal burst, it would be Tsunami for Nepal, Sharma added.
According to the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), more than 40 glacier lakes in Nepal are under the risk of eruption due mainly to the ill effects of climate change.
At the program, Pemba Dorje Sherpa, the fastest climber to climb Mt. Qomolangma, requested the government and other agencies to save the land of Sherpas and their heritage for the future generation by taking effective measures to stop glaciers from bursting.
Sherpa said that though the climbers had found it easy to climb mountains because of melting of snow, an glaring example of effect of the climate change but the same effect can lead to the glaciers burst and will put the occupation of the Sherpas at high risk, Sherpa said.
Prakash Mani Sharma, one of the members of the organizers informed that his organizers has presented a memorandum to the UNESCO office to requesting the UN agencies to extend its assistance in saving the glaciers from the ill effect of the climate change and the global warming. They made the request to control the production of pollutants and harmful gases from the big industries around the globe.
Sharma added instead of providing funds for planting trees, the international agencies should help by helping Nepal in controlling pollution.
(Xinhua News Agency August 27, 2009)
