INDIA CONTRADICTS
UNEP REPORT ON ‘ASIAN BROWN CLOUD’
EXPERT
COMMITTEE FOR CRITICAL EXAMINATION
India has contradicted
the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report on the
‘Asian Brown Cloud’, as exaggerated and misleading. An expert
committee has been set up under the Chairmanship of Dr. R. R.
Kelkar, DG, Meteorology for a critical examination of the report.
The term ‘Asian Brown Cloud’ (ABC) actually refers to the aerosol
layer observed over the Indian Ocean, during the INDOEX programme
in the winter and spring of 1999. The INDOEX, a scientific Indian
Ocean experiment has all along referred to these aerosols simply
as ‘Haze’ and not as ‘Clouds’.
During a press-meet
here, yesterday, Dr. Kelkar said, the choice of the word could
be deceptive if used incorrectly. He said, the INDOEX found carbon
aerosols in the lower atmosphere, originating from biomass burning
and having a significant capacity to absorb solar radiation. Perhaps
the report possibly wanted to enhance its scope, he said.
The UNEP report,
which also spoke of likely detrimental impact on agriculture due
to reduction in rainfall, probably derived the premise from an
observation that rainfall has been steadily decreasing in tropical
Asia. Dr. Kelkar pointed out that evidence from long-period rainfall
data in India, shows no such trend. Also global climate impacts
cannot be evaluated from limited regional observations taken in
isolation such as that of ABC, he said. Similar observations will
have to be considered from other regions of the world to arrive
at a typical conclusion regarding the phenomenon, he added.
