SYED IQBAL
HASNAIN, THE LEADING INDIAN GLACIOLOGIST WHO MADE THE CLAIM IN 1999,
HAS SAID IT WAS `SPECULATIVE'
New evidence has emerged to suggest that the oft
repeated prediction of the UN's Nobel prize-winning body on climate
change that Himalayan glaciers will disappear by 2035 if the pace of
global warming continues at present levels may have been mistaken.
"We are studying the new evidence," said R.K.
Pachauri, who heads the body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC).
The IPCC's claim was based on an article in the
New Statesman, London, which relied on an estimate by India's leading
glaciologist, Syed Iqbal Hasnain.
Fred Pearce, who wrote the article, told the
Sunday Times, London, that Hasnain, who made the claim in 1999, had
said he'd give him a detailed report explaining his conclusion. "I
obtained a copy, and it did not have what Hasnain had said," Pearce
told the newspaper. "It does not mention 2035 as a date by which
Himalayan glaciers will melt."
Hasnain told Pearce his claim was `speculative'.
Attempts by HT to reach Hasnain failed. His
family said he was away and there was no phone number at which he
could be contacted.
