Those of us who are extremely disturbed and concerned over the state of health of our mother earth should be breathing easy over the Himalayan blunder committed by the UN climate agency , Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC) in its grim forecast that most of the Himalaayan glaciers might disappear by the year 2035 which just sent shivers down the spines of many people as it would mean some major rivers would go dry endangering the lives of umpteen number of people of South Asian countries. Initially the report was lent credence to as it was authored by one of the most prestigious bodies in this regard. At this juncture when we have devastation and destruction being carried out in a methodical fashion in the name of development in the form of shrinking green belt, disappearing forests and silted rivers, this particular news should warm the cockles of our hearts.

When contents of the the fourth assessment report of the Inter-governmental report Panel on Climate Change were divulged which contained this stern warning that the Himalayan Glaciers might erased from the face of the earth by 2035 in the face of the current rate of global warming, the environmentalist, policy maker and the common all were horrified. But the scientist who are more specifically known as glaciologist were no mood to go the report unchallenged and they attacked the contents of the report saying that IPCC drew on non-substantiated data which found its way into the report. Even there are dark hints in the press that business interest of the IPCC Chairman R. Pachauri, the Nobel laureate, might have influenced the report . Be that what it may, the statement of the Geneva-based organization that

in drafting the paragraph in question, the clear and well-established standards of evidence as required by the IPCC procedures were not applied and non-published, non-peer review sourced information was included in the assessment report does not speak well of the standing of this world body.

It may have given us a temporary breather, the larger and more serious threat of acceleration in the rate of loss of glaciers and snow cover is very much here and if it is not met with determination and sincerity, it is going to severely affect our water availability, hydro-power potentialities and river flows in the Hindu-Kush, Himalayan and Andes regions.