Asia at the Poles – Spotlight: India
This story is part of an occasional Eye on the Arctic series looking at Arctic science and business from the Asia pacific region
When most people think ‘polar research’, India is not usually one of the first countries that comes to mind.
But in fact, the world’s changing Arctic has a direct impact on countries like India.
” There are more than 16 parameters that are responsible for controlling the monsoon phenomenon in India ,” says Rajan Sivaramakrishnan, the director of India’s National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research.
“One of them happens to be what’s happening at the polar regions.”
“It’s not only that the countries of the Nordic regions should be worried about it. All of the countries have a stake in what is happening in the polar regions because directly or indirectly in effects their very existence.”
IndARC observatory deployed
Recently, Indian scientists launched the country’s first multi-sensored moored observatory in the Arctic.
Located in the Kongsfjorden, an inlet on the island of Spitsbergen in the Norwegian Arctic, the device will allow scientists to collect data year round.
To find out more, Eye on the Arctic’s Eilís Quinn, spoke with Rajan Sivaramakrishnan, the director of India’s National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research:
Video of the mooring of IndARC from the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research:
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: SLIDESHOW: Canadian web documentary highlights Arctic science, Eye on the Arctic
Finland: Finland inaugurates radio telescope in Arctic, Yle News
Greenland: Long-term warming inside Greenland’s ice sheet, Alaska Dispatch
Norway: Study finds bird declines in mountains of Finland, Sweden, Norway, Alaska Dispatch
Russia: U.S.-Russia tensions create worries for Arctic scientists, Alaska Dispatch
Sweden: Could Sweden be self-sufficient on biofuels?, Radio Sweden
United States: NASA reconnaissance aircraft begins Arctic science flights out of Alaska, Alaska Dispatch
