Daily Times

The Gayari disaster, which took the lives of 124 Pakistani soldiers and 11 civilians, has triggered an informed debate over the need to demilitarise the Siachen Glacier, and instead turn it into a “peace park”. Experts at an SDPI seminar, “Climate Change and Siachen Glacier: a Global Challenge”, have adduced scientific and financial data to call for the glacier’s demilitarisation, as the confrontation on the glacier has cost billions of dollars and loss of precious lives on both sides. Experts believe that if both the countries pull back forces to the pre-1984 positions, they can save as much as $ 10 billion per annum, which they can invest in education, healthcare, and general promotion of human capital, thereby imparting a fillip to their economies and alleviating poverty. Studies have demonstrated that out of a total of 52 glaciers located in Pakistan, the eastern glaciers are melting at a faster pace than the northern glaciers. A NASA report based on scientific imaging has shown that more than 65 percent of the Karakoram glaciers are growing despite global warming. The Gayari disaster was caused by a “glacier surge”, occasioned by the melting of the glacial base, causing the top-heavy mass to fall on the Pakistani troops. Experts maintain that the activities of both the militaries on the world’s “highest battlefield” create heavy emissions of black carbon, which acts as a catalytic agent to speed up the melting process. Similarly, Attabad Lake, formed by blocked flow of river water, could be the harbinger of similar major disasters unless climate degradation is reversed through urgent targeted action.

Greenhouse gas emissions caused by human and industrial activity have trapped atmospheric heat in the earth’s atmosphere, resulting in an appreciable rise in global warming. The UN summit on climate change had set specific targets to be achieved by member states by 2015. However, most of the developed economies, above all the US, have failed to meet the targets. The trend of popularising ‘green’ activities worldwide can help stem the damage to some extent, though such measures will have to be taken on a sustained basis over decades. Scientists believe that the melting of glaciers under the impact of global warming can lead to a rise in the sea level, threatening coastal communities. Global climate change over the millennia has been responsible for extinction of many life forms. It is about time humanity heeded these warning signs. *