Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Radioactivity and India's Water Resources

From EurekAlert Earth Sciences Feed:






1 comment:

  1. Hello,

    I had no idea that most of the ice cores retrieved around the world had unmistakable radio activity markers resulting from the nuclear testing of 50s & 60s. Did this radio activity pass from the testing grounds into the surrounding atmosphere / water vapour and then travelled to other regions to deposit there in the form of snow? If so, then it may have precipitated in the form of rains elsewhere. Were such radio active rains detected then? I do not know where & how extensively the core sampling was done in the Himalaya, but is it possible that radio-activity bearing snow may not have reached some parts of the world? Or is there irrefutable evidence to force a conclusion that radio activity bearing snow layer has melted and already washed away?

    Another side of Climate change is its Geo-political impact. I heard on TED Talk by Larry Brilliant - no climate scientist - following points :

    1. 70% of Bangladesh is hardly 5 feet above mean sea level.
    2. Even if the GHG production is held constant at today's levels, many parts of Bangladesh will be inundated permanently with sea water within the next decade.
    3. Consequently, over 20 million people will flee into India.

    You can imagine the kind of strain that would put on the fragile fabric of North-East. The scenario is unmistakably nightmarish. If above forecast is true, then its no more a possibility but a certainty. Something we should start talking about now and find solutions rather than let the disaster strike us unprepared.

    Cheers / Sadanand.


    Hi Sadanand-

    Yes it is a fallout recognizable everywhere on earth from the polar ice to tropical glaciers. Radioactive rains where also noticed in the early years. There is another type of evidence of the global reach of these tests. Corals all over the world show the presence of bomb radiocarbon in their skeletons which shows that the fallout was quickly incorporated into the worlds oceans.The same with tree growth rings which show the presence of bomb radiocarbon after the tests. In 2000 scientists drilling into ice at Kilimanjaro discovered the typical radioactive signal at 1.8 metre depth. When they revisited that site in 2006, that layer of ice had vanished. The current drilling in the Himalyas was undertaken at around 19,000 feet where it snows substantially and where this signal should have been preserved at some depth. But it appear that melting is outpacing new accumulation of snow.

    Regarding Bangladesh I agree the situation is scary. And don't forget out own low lying areas in West Bengal and the deltas of Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery. There is a danger of significant displacement within India as well.