According to “Aberdeen scientists develop ice stupas for Himalayan water crisis” (2021), University of Aberdeen scientists conducted research on an artificial glacier in Ladakh, Northern India, which proved that it helps solve “the Himalayan water shortage”. Not enough water to grow new crops and lack of water to use are the problems Ladakhi face every year during April and May. As Ladakh is one of the driest places on Earth and climate change causes the world’s glaciers to melt down more each year, the water problems are getting even worse. The ice stupas are man-made glaciers which were first created in 2013 by an engineer, Sonam Wangchuk. The concept of the ice stupas is to store water in the form of ice during the winter for use in summer when the ice melts down, which indicated that “ice stupas can release millions of litres of water each year.” To create them, a pipe has to be located under the ground where water could flow through without freezing before the pressure pushes the water up and out to form ice stupas in a pyramid-like structure. The researchers suggested that the ice stupas are at an early stage of development. They are still learning to understand the environment and need of using water around the areas and also developing techniques, such as trying to find the best place to place the pipelines and to improve on how to keep the water not freezing in them.
Reference
Aberdeen scientists develop ice stupas for Himalayan water crisis. (2021, September 25). BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-58691004
I like your topic as Ladakh is one of the place I would definitely visit. It’s good for them that scientists from top universities help to design an innovation to solve their problems. I hope the ice stupas will develop to its full potential further
ReplyDeleteI hope that you can visit Ladakh soon in the future. I also have a friend who had traveled to Ladakh about few years ago before the pandemic. He confirmed that Ladakh is one of the most beautiful places, you should visit once in a life time. But to visit Ladakh, it is quiet challenging and required a lot of planning before a trip, such as the food that we are not familiar with and also the weather which is dry and freezing, even my friend's inhaler that he brought from Thailand got freeze.
DeleteI quite surprise about the way to solve water-shortage problem. Men-made glaciers sound interesting. At first when I read your topic and saw the picture without reading the whole article. I related this into a symbolism action that artist did rather than scientist. I also wonder why it was a stupa shape, I imagined that they created it in this shape because their people really valued the religion. However, after I finished your reading, there are nothing related with my imaginations.
ReplyDeleteNum, when I first chose the image, I just quickly picked because it included person in a picture. But when I looked to it again closely, I agree with you. If I see only the picture without reading, I might imagine the man in the picture as a monk and the story might related to some superstition.
DeleteThis summary interested me as I couldn't think this method for a solution of a lack of water.
ReplyDeleteI can illustrate the process of making ice cude shaped in pyramid by reading your summary.