India to study climate change in deep oceans: Secretary
Chennai: India is all set to study climate change in the deep oceans as part of an ambitious Rs 6,500 crore Deep Ocean Mission, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, M Rajeevan said here on Monday.
Studying climate change, marine biodiversity and survey for compounds like hyrdrocarbons and minerals will be part of the deep ocean mission.
Institutions, including the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services and Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology are involved in the mission, he said.
"Exploring deep oceans to get energy, minerals and water" are the broad objectives of the mission, he told reporters here on the sidelines a workshop held as part of the silver jubilee celebrations of the city based NIOT.
The project cost is Rs 6,500 crore for the next six years and approximately Rs 1,000 crore per year, he said.
Though nuances linked to behaviour of the top layer of the oceans and sea surface temperature were well known, the dynamics at the ocean depths were yet to be studied in India, he said, answering a question.
What happened beyond a distance of one kilometer has to be looked into, he said.
"Carbon dioxide is getting absorbed and goes into deep oceans. How it is stored and released back" are among the kind of things that needed to be studied, he said.
