Stubble burning is not just reducing your life by years, it could also be aggravating the melting of the Gangotri Glacier, scientists fear.
According to scientists, black carbon concentration in the region of the glacier increases 400 times during summer, most likely due to agricultural burning and forest fires. This increased concentration can trigger glacial melt because of the light absorbing nature of black carbon.
These are the findings of a study by the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, (WIHG), an autonomous institution under department of science and technology. The study was conducted at Chirbasa station near Gangotri Glacier, for the year 2016.
The investigators said the occasional high values of black carbon extricated were significantly influenced by seasonal cycles of “agriculture burning (in western part of the country), forest fires (along the Himalayan slopes) in summer, and to some extent by the contribution from long-range transport of pollutants in winter, depending the prevailing meteorological conditions.''
The research, led by Dr. P.S. Negi from WIHG, was published in the scientific journal Atmospheric Environment.
The equivalent black carbon (EBC) aerosols contribute significantly towards global warming due to its light-absorbing nature. Their presence in the eco-sensitive zone such as the Himalayan Glacier valleys is a matter of serious concern and needs to be meticulously monitored, says the study.
However, baseline data on BC is rarely available from most of the glaciated Himalayan region.
This study was the first in which the measurements on ambient EBC mass concentration at a high altitude site Chirbasa (3,600m), were recorded. The monthly mean concentration of EBC was found to be minimum in August and maximum in May.