NZ Glaciers Continue to Retreat: Report

A recently-released report on the state of New Zealand’s glaciers has found they have, once again, lost a significant portion of their ice mass.The National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research (NIWA), the NZ-based organisation which conducts both commercial and non-commercial research in the field of environmental sciences, has found “continued loss of glacier mass” in its end-of-summer survey according to its news release.

The statement quoted NIWA Snow and Ice Scientist Dr Jordy Hendrikx as saying the cause of the loss of glacial ice was the weather patterns over the course of the year from April 2008 to March 2009.

Dr Hendrikx said a combination of factors were to blame.

“This was mainly due to the combination of above normal temperatures and near normal or below normal rainfall for the Southern Alps during winter, and La Niña-like patterns producing more northerly flows creating normal-to-above normal temperatures, above normal sunshine, and well below normal precipitation for the Southern Alps particularly during late summer,” said the NIWA release.

Surveys of the glaciers, which have been taking place since 1977, use images taken from a small fixed wing aircraft of over 50 glaciers in the Southern Alps and Kaikoura to assess the well being of the glaciers. Researchers can then analyse the pictures taken to determine the position of the snowline after the summer melt but before the first winter snowfall, providing an index of the mass balance or “health” of the glaciers of New Zealand, says NIWA.

Though glacial retreat has been used as an indicator of the effects of global warming elsewhere in the world, the Institute warns that the situation is more complex in New Zealand as the mass and volume of the country’s glaciers are “…sensitive to changing wind and precipitation patterns as well as to temperature.”. Read more!

Thailand: Clean and Safe Water is Major Climate Change Challenge

Pattaya, Thailand: Attendees at a conference to discuss climate change in the eastern Thai city of Pattaya has heard that one of the major challenges facing the world in the midst of global warming and increased levels of environmental degradation was the supply of potable drinking water to its people.Pattaya, Thailand: Attendees at a conference to discuss climate change in the eastern Thai city of Pattaya has heard that one of the major challenges facing the world in the midst of global warming and increased levels of environmental degradation was the supply of potable drinking water to its people.

Speaking at the Royal Golden Jubilee Ph.D Program's annual conference entitled " Climate change and its impact" at Pattaya, Professor Ramesh Kanwar of Iowa State University's department of agriculture and biosystems engineering told delegates of the tremendous challenges facing parts of Asia to provide safe, clean water for its citizens.

Thailand's The Nation newspaper reported Professor Kanwar saying that, out of a global population of 6.5 billion, one billion lack access to an adequate water supply and 2.5 billion do not have proper sanitation -- a factor in the deaths of several thousand children per day through waterborne diseases such as diarrhea.

" The major question for scientists and the academic community is what needs to be done to reverse these trends and bring water security to all living things - humans, animals and plants. What research, training, policy and economic needs are required to bring water security for all living species on this planet?" he asked.

Prof Kanwar said reining in the use of pesticides and fertilisers used by agriculture, which had contaminated rivers and groundwater in the region, was a necessary first move for many of Asia's developing countries.

"Poor environmental practices and lack of desire to implement local environmental regulations are the main causes of this dilemma," he said.

He added that the study of prevention of water borne diseases should be a key focus of major research efforts this century.

"If we do not increase research efforts in this area, society is likely to face many unknown waterborne diseases, especially from the migration from water or food to humans," he said. "This will require international collaboration and partnerships between leading global institutions to solve complex issues in research and education."

Prof Kanwar said that education should also be revised and restructured where necessary masters and doctoral degree levels to include more advanced courses covering water quality, management, environmental degradation and resolving international water conflicts.

[Above image: Flag of Thailand]

Published in OOSKAnews Water Weekly: Southern and Eastern Asia.
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