Despite fears that the flow of the Bhagirathi, the main tributary of the Ganga, is falling in volume, the government has said there is no such threat to the river and the "natural' receding of the Gangotri glacier does not require any corrective measures. "Gomukh is the ice cave of Gangotri glacier through which the river Bhagirathi emerges from the glacier. Therefore, the question of Ganga going far away from the main source does not arise,' earth sciences minister Kapil Sibal informed the Parliament.

High in the Himalayas, above this peaceful valley where farmers till a patchwork of emerald-green fields, an icy lake fed by melting glaciers waits to become a "tsunami from the sky.' The lake is swollen dangerously past normal levels, thanks to the global warming that is causing the glaciers to retreat at record speed. But no one knows when the tipping point will come and the lake can take no more, bursting its banks and sending torrents of water crashing into the valley below.

Sikkim Government is gearing up to send a high-level glaciologists' team to study the meltdown of the glaciers in Sikkim due to global warming and to find out remedies. The team led by Professor S I Hasnain and accompanied by officials and members of various project teams, would visit west Sikkim to study the state of East Rathong glacier during their nine-day expedition starting from April 24, an official said. Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling had set up a commission under Hasnain to study the state of glaciers late last year, the official said.

World Sea Levels To Rise 1.5m By 2100

Planet Ark April 15, 2008 Melting Mountains A "Time Bomb" For Water Shortages AUSTRIA: April 15, 2008 VIENNA - Glaciers and mountain snow are melting earlier in the year than usual, meaning the water has already gone when millions of people need it during the summer when rainfall is lower, scientists warned on Monday. "This is just a time bomb," said hydrologist Wouter Buytaert at a meeting of geoscientists in Vienna.

FEATURE - Iceland: Life On Global Warming's Front Line ICELAND: April 7, 2008 REYKJAVIK - If any country can claim to be pitched on the global warming front line, it may be the North Atlantic island nation of Iceland. On a purely physical level, this land of icecaps and volcanoes and home to 300,000 people is undergoing a rapid transformation as its glaciers melt and weather patterns change dramatically. But global warming is also having a profound effect on Iceland economically -- and in many ways the effects have actually been beneficial.

Iceland: life on global warming's front line By Adam Cox and Kristin Arna Bragadottir REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - If any country can claim to be pitched on the global warming front line, it may be the North Atlantic island nation of Iceland. On a purely physical level, this land of icecaps and volcanoes and home to 300,000 people is undergoing a rapid transformation as its glaciers melt and weather patterns change dramatically. But global warming is also having a profound effect on Iceland economically -- and in many ways the effects have actually been beneficial.