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© S.Marchenko/Alaska Fairbanks University.
Here, a photo of Tuyuksu Glacier in Northern Tien Shan in
July 1997. The glacier has retreated 362 m since 1955.
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Will climate change make Central Asia’s glaciers
disappear?
Sixty experts meeting in Almaty (Kazakhstan) on 28–30
November to discuss glacier retreat and its impact on water
resources in Asia have called for the creation of a centre
on glacier research for Central Asia. Studies presented to
the workshop show that glaciers in the region are melting
rapidly: between 1955 and 2000, they lost 0.6–0.8% of
their volume per year. Mountain ranges in Asia include the
Altai, Tian Shan, Pamir, Karakoram and the Himalayan and Tibetan
Plateaus; these ranges stock the world’s largest volumes
of ice outside the polar regions. The experts call for a review
of the ongoing and completed research in Central Asia on the
hydrological impact of glaciers, snow and permafrost. They
recommend developing a regional network of benchmark basins
to investigate the impact of glaciers and snow cover on the
hydrological cycle and on the associated socio-economic system.
The workshop was organized by UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere
(MAB)
and International Hydrological Programmes (IHP),
together with the Regional Environmental Centre for Central
Asia (CAREC), European Commission and the Institute of Geography
of the Kazakh Academy of Sciences.
Contact the UNESCO focal point in Almaty, Anil
Mishra
Consult the website of UNESCO’s
Almaty office.
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Launch of A World of Science in Russian
29
November-The
Russian version of A World of Science is now out. The
Russian version of UNESCO’s quarterly journal is
published by the Organization’s office in
Moscow, which covers the cluster grouping Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Belarus, Republic of Moldova and the Russian
Federation. A World of Science now exists in English,
French,
Spanish and
Russian. A World of Science was launched by UNESCO
in October 2002. It is distributed free of charge to
governments, universities, schools and libraries in
192 countries, and may be downloaded for free from the
UNESCO portal.
Just one in four researchers is a woman
29
November-Women
represent less than 30% of scientific researchers in
the 89 countries for which data are available, according
to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, which devotes
its November bulletin to the theme of women in science.
This figure does mask considerable variation among regions
however. In Latin America and the Caribbean, women account
for 46% of researchers, a figure topped only in Central
Asia (50%). In the rest of Asia, however, this share
falls to 15%, as compared to 29% in Africa and 32% in
Europe. Read the bulletin.
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| 26–29
November |
Biodiversity
governance and prevention of conflicts – UNESCO-MAB.
UNESCO Paris: Contact
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27
November –
1 December |
Water
resource variability 5th FRIEND intl conf. Co-organized
by UNESCO-IHP. Havana
(Cuba): Contact |
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| 28–30
November |
Global
change in mountain regions Organized by GLOCHAMORE
partner Mountain
Research Initiative. Almaty (Kazakhstan): Contact |
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| 28–30
November |
Assessment
of snow-glacier and water resources in Asia –
Regional Environmental Center for Central Asia, Institue
of Geography, Kazakhstan, EU, UNESCO Almaty, etc. With
UNESCO Beijing, Delhi, Moscow and Tashkent offices. Almaty:
Contact |
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| 28–30
November |
Estuaries
and coasts 2nd Intl Conf. organized by IRTCES,
UNESCO, Pearl River Water Resources Committee
in China; IAHS; WASER; IAHR. Guangzhou, China:Contact
(Contact at IWHR); Contact
at UNESCO. |
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| 30
November |
Deadline
for registering your team for Mondialogo Engineering
Award - Registration for this award is open to project
teams whose members are enrolled as students at universities,
technical colleges, etc. Each team should consist of
two student groups from developing and developed countries.
Between December and May, the team should put together
a practical, high-quality engineering project for the
benefit of communities in developing countries. The
team project should address the UN Millennium Development
Goals of extreme poverty reduction and sustainable development.
Submit your final project proposal to the Mondialogo
team by 31 May 2007. Ten Mondialogo Engineering Awards
of €20,000 each will go to the teams with the top
project proposals. An Honourable Mention and €5,000
have been earmarked for 20 more teams. This is the second
edition of the Mondialogo Engineering Award, a partnership
between UNESCO and DaimlerChrysler. Access the registration
form, the UNESCO focal
point and the background.
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| 4–9
December |
Humid
tropical ecosystems Intl Conf. on changes, challenges
and cutting-edge opportunities for research, conservation
and capacitybuilding. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Contact |
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| 11-17 December |
A
robot camp for kids - Children aged 12-15 years from
Malaysia, Japan and Brunei will be spending a week together
in Brunei Darussalam making robots and doing research
on the theme of science and technology for sustainable
development. UNESCO is organizing this camp as part of
efforts to encourage a “hands-on” (or active
learning) approach to teaching science in schools. In
addition to showing that science can be fun, the camp
aims to bring home to children the importance of science,
technology and engineering in daily life. This is the
first joint activity between Brunei and UNESCO since Brunei
joined UNESCO last year. The camp is being run in tandem
with the Science, Technology and Environment Partnership
Centre of the Ministry of Education in Brunei Darussalam.
Contact the UNESCO
focal point in Jakarta.
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| 23 January |
African Union Summit on Scientific
Research, Technology and Innovation for Africa's Socio-economic
Development. For details: M.
El Tayeb and J.
Massaquoi. See also Science
in Africa, a brochure presenting UNESCO’s contribution
to Africa’s Plan for S&T to 2010 and the NEPAD
website.
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UNESCO
Scientific 
