DIVECHA CENTRE FOR CLIMATE CHANGE
IISc BANGALORE
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Climate Change Seminar
“Indian Antarctica Programme : Scientific and Strategic Fallouts and Economic Spin offs ”
Speaker : Maj Gen SS Sharma , KC, VSM ( AV)
Venue : Auditorium, Divecha Centre for Climate Change
Date : May 14 2013 , Tuesday.
Time : 11 : 00 am .
Click here to view the presentation document.
Abstract
Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, highest, driest and the farthest continent of all the seven continents. Its area is 14.5 million sq km which is equivalent to India and China put together. 98.5 per cent of the continent is covered with a thick ice sheet, which is termed as the Ice Cap. It is estimated that 90 per cent of the world’s fresh water lies in Antarctica. Vostok, a Russian station, known as the Pole of Cold, is the coldest place on the earth which recorded –89.6°C as the lowest temperature in July 1983. The continent experiences severe blizzards with winds gusting up to 300 km/h at places.
While such superlatives, as mentioned above, are commonly used to describe Antarctica, it is important to realize that Antarctica is the most mysterious continent, with several unique phenomena. The attention of the scientific community and global planners is focused on trying to understand its origin, various scientific phenomena observed on the continent, its vast mineral resources lying buried in its land, its large fresh water lakes under two to three km thick sheet of ice, and the rich southern seas surrounding it having abundance of marine lives and mineral resources. All these aspects and many more, like the division and ownership of the continent and the resources, keeping in mind the international laws and the long term environmental impacts, are the subject of debates in various world forums.
The speaker who is associated with the Indian Antarctic programme right from its inception, covers the above topic by giving an over view of the geography, history of exploration, international treaty and the laws governing the conduct in the continent, scientific research and challenges, mineral exploration and exploitation, and involvement and interests of India in the above. The speaker also discusses his first hand experience of leading the sixteen month long First Indian Wintering expedition to the icy continent, and also the politico- strategic fallouts and economic spin offs of the Antarctic programme. The talk ends with many mind boggling questions about the continent, acceptable solutions of which have to be found by the future planners and the scientific community.