Himadri ('Mountain top of snow')
View Larger Map
Seven of them(Scientists) from different parts of India are there in the team.
I am praying for their mission to be most successful one.
I am also proud to have him as one of my very close friend and important contributor to our Project.
Article from www.expressbuzz.com - Express Buzz Expedition to study climate change - Sudha Nambudiri
First Published : 08 Jun 2009 10:59:00 PM IST
Last Updated : 08 Jun 2009 08:48:35 AM IST
KOCHI: India’s second Arctic expedition to study climate change and bacterial life, coordinated by the Goabased National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), has a Kochi connection. Leading the team is A A Mohammed Hatha, Reader, Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry, Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat).
Hatha will lead a team of biologists from different parts of the country to study the impact of climate change on microbial communities of the Arctic region. The team leaves from Mumbai for Oslo, Norway, on June 18. From Oslo they will fly to Ny- Alesund, an island in the Svalbard archipelago of Norway where India’s station Himadri is situated. Other members of the team include Sabu Thomas and Wilson Abraham from the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram, Savita Kerkar of the Goa University, and researchers Om Prakash, Rakesh Mishra and Santanu Ray.
“Savita and I will be working on the recycling of biogases and the levels of sulphur and phosphorus in the regions,’’ said Hatha.
The other scientists will study icebinding proteins in algae and ecological imbalances caused by glacial meltdown. The team will be in Himadri for one month. “We are a team of biologists. The next team will include geologists,’’ he said. Himadri can accommodate only 10 people at a time. Arctic sea ice is a treasure house of information relating to the earth’s climate during the ice ages, and scientists study it to predict future trends in the earth’s climate.
India has access to Svalbard because of a treaty with Norway which has sovereign rights over the area. Currently, Norway, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea and China have research stations in the area.
India’s research station Himadri, which is the northern-most permanent human settlement, was set up last year and is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities. Scientists’ interest in the Arctic Circle centres around the fact that it is a huge reservoir of hydrocarbon and mineral reserves. -- kochi@epmltd.com
I pray for the success of this Arctic Expedition.
Photos From Hatha:
Update - October, 2019:
Geography and You
Update - February 2020:
Dr. Hatha recently completed his trip to Antarctica to study about Methane Bacteria related to climate change studies and few photos from there:
Enduring harsh environments (Arctic and Antarctic) to examine and conduct studies for the benefits of human kind are the goals of true Environmental Scientists which includes me and my friend Dr.Hatha.
