«Today we are seeing rapid ice melting in the Arctic, Antarctica and Greenland. Significant changes are also occurring in terrestrial glaciers. The rapid melting of glaciers, as well as the increase in water consumption associated with population growth and economic development, threatens the lives and well-being of hundreds of millions of people».

Emomali Rahmon

Speaking at the meeting on water and climate issues, the Head of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon proposed to declare 2025 the International Year of Glacier Protection.

Progressive climate warming is one of the most urgent global problems today. Today, climate change has become obvious for the majority of our planet's inhabitants. The seasons are getting warmer and the weather is becoming more variable and unpredictable. Over time, the increase in temperature has amounted to only a couple of degrees, but if we take the planet as a whole, even such an insignificant increase in temperature leads to serious consequences. The general trend of progressive climate warming will eventually lead to a massive melting of ice and permafrost, rising ocean levels. And as a consequence, due to the retreat of mountain glaciers we can observe a decrease in the flow of rivers, which in turn leads to a decrease in crop yields in those regions that they provide water. Climatic changes lead to death of many animals and plants not adapted to new conditions.

Today, the face of the Earth is changing. Glaciers, which occupy about 11% of the Earth's area, are gradually melting. Modern glaciers occupy an area of about 9000 km² on the territory of Tajikistan, which is almost 6% of the total area of the republic. In the west, in the high mountains, huge reserves of snow and ice are concentrated. There, the climatic boundary of eternal snow rises to heights of 3500-3600 meters, and in the eastern part of the country reach a height of 5800 meters. On the Pamir-Darvaz mountain system there are 9139 glaciers, which contain 559 km³ of ice. In general, more than 1000 glaciers are registered on the territory of Tajikistan, the largest of them is considered to be Fedchenko glacier with a length of 71.2 km. Thanks to glaciers, Tajikistan ranks 2nd in the CIS and 8th in the world in terms of its hydropower potential. The hydropower potential of Tajikistan is estimated at 527 billion kWh per year, which is three times higher than the current electricity consumption of all Central Asian countries. From 52 to 64 cubic kilometers of water is formed annually on the territory of the country, which is about 60% of the river flow of the rivers of the Central Asian region. What is happening to the glaciers of Tajikistan at present? According to rough estimates of scientists, about one thousand glaciers of the Pamir-Darvaz mountain system have completely disappeared as a result of abnormal melting. In the last 10 years alone, hundreds of people have died in Tajikistan as a result of natural anomalies associated with melting glaciers, and the damage caused by the elements to the Tajik economy amounted to more than a billion dollars.

Global warming is the process of gradual increase in the average annual temperature of the Earth's surface layer of the atmosphere and the world's oceans. The Earth's average temperature has increased by 0.7°C since the end of the twentieth century; a large proportion of the warming observed in the last 50 years is caused by human activity. This is primarily the release of carbon causing the "greenhouse effect" from the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas, peat). Global warming poses several specific dangers to humanity: rising sea levels, abnormal natural phenomena, thawing permafrost, spread of infections, loss of biodiversity, food problems, and economic consequences. Scientists now predict that the Arctic could be ice-free in about 30 years. Nowadays it is accepted to speak not about global warming, but about global climate change. At the same time, the change is indeed already underway and is leading to negative consequences. Human activities have an impact on climate change. This includes greenhouse gas emissions, burning coal, oil, gas, industrial emissions, transportation exhaust, deforestation, etc., and the use of fossil fuels. In order to slow down the process of climate change, humans need to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels by switching to wind or solar energy. It is now very important to prevent forest fires, which lead to the destruction of forests and have a direct impact on climate change. And it is necessary to accept this very change, to learn to live in the current conditions, because it is most likely impossible to stop the change completely.

Measures to prevent global warming

The main task to prevent global warming is: to find a new type of fuel, first of all environmentally friendly or to change the technology of using current fuels. Therefore, it is necessary to:

·        reduce the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere;

·        install air emission purification facilities in boiler houses, factories and plants;

·        abandon traditional fuels in favor of more environmentally friendly ones;

·        significantly reduce the amount of deforestation and ensure its reproduction;

·        create laws to prevent global warming;

·        identify, monitor and address the causes of global warming.

The problem of global warming should be solved at the international level, in accordance with a single international program, drawn up with the participation of all governments and the world community, under a single international leadership. Today the main world agreement on counteraction to global warming is the Kyoto Protocol (agreed in 1997, entered into force in 2005). The Protocol includes 192 countries of the world.

For a number of years at various international forums and meetings, the founder of peace and national unity, the leader of the nation, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, the esteemed Emomali Rahmon has been drawing the attention of the world community to the problem of glacier disappearance and glacier melting in Tajikistan, and proposes to develop a plan of joint efforts to combat this environmental cataclysm. For all these years Republic of Tajikistan has been calling on the world community to unite efforts to study the glacier cover of Tajikistan and to create an international fund for the protection of glaciers. After all, according to numerous experts, if the current rate of melting continues, all glaciers in the Pamirs will disappear in just half a century. The result of the diplomatic efforts of official Dushanbe was the adoption of a resolution by the UN General Assembly on December 21, 2016. On December 21, 2016, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution supporting Emomali Rakhmon's initiative to declare the period 2018-2028 as the International Decade of Action "Water for Sustainable Development" aimed at integrated water resources management and supporting the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Department of propaedeutics of children's diseases

translated

Ruzimuhammad Ismoilov