Te whakauru i te tauira o ngā awa kōpaka e kākahuria ana ki te para me te mātauranga Māori e whakapai ake ai i te tika o te matapae i ngā rerekētanga ā-awa kōpaka
Debris-covered Satopanth bamak (glacier) in the Garhwal Himalaya, India. Dr Winter-Billington will compare observations of Satopanth, a glacier in Nepal, and Haupapa Tasman Glacier in Aoraki Mt Cook National Park, to improve understanding of the regional variability of the underlying processes of surface melting on debris-covered glaciers (photo supplied).
Ka whakamahia te wai o te awa kōpaka mō te punahiko wai me te whakaputanga ahuwhenua i Aotearoa, i wāhi kē atu anō hoki, ā, hei ngā tau tukuroa. Ka whakamahia te wai o te awa kōpaka e te tangata kia whai māramatanga ki ngā rerekētanga i te rerenga o te wai. Heoi anō, harapuku noa ana ngā tauira matapae. Ko te mārama ki ngā āhuatanga o ngā tauira whakamātau te matū e angitu ai te urutau me te whakahaere rautaki. E kākahuria ana ngā tini maunga e ngā whatinga toka mutunga kore. Heoi, ko ngā tauira awa kōpaka tahito, i whakamahia i ngā wāhanga katoa o te mātai rerekētanga o te rewa o te awa kōpaka, ka whakatapehatia te rewa o te kākahu whatinga toka (DCG). I whakaatuhia i ngā mahi nō nā tata nei ka kaha rongo i ngā pāhekoheko i waenga i te papa paranga ki ngā āhuatanga o te huarere. Heoi, ko te hononga ā-kiko kāore i te tino mōhiotia. Me arotake rawa ngā pāhekohekonga i ngā āhuatanga o te para me te āhua o te huarere mō ngā māharahara e pā ana ki ngā rerekētanga. Ko te awa kōpaka nui rawa atu o Aotearoa, ko Haupapa Tasman Glacier, 28% kua kākahuria e te para mō ngā rau tau. Kei te tautīnei te wai rewa nō te Haupapa i tētahi ecology whānui, ā, tōnui ana te noho a Kāi Tahu ki tērā whenua mō te rau tau. Kāore e kore kei te mōhio te iwi nei ki te hononga o ngā āhuatanga huarere, te huka me te rewanga o te tio. He taonga te Mātauranga Māori ki Kāi Tahu kia whai māramatanga ki ngā pāpātanga o te āhuarangi hurihuri ki ngā awa kōpaka. E ngana ana tēnei rangahau ki te whakapai i te tika o ngā tauira DCG, ā, ka whakapiki i te whakatau mō te matapae o te rerekētanga o te awa kōpaka, mā te whakakotahi i te ahupūngao o te DCG me te mātauranga Māori mō te cryosphere. Kei te whai i tētahi kaupapa Māori (ngā hiahia, ngā matea o te hunga pupuri i te mātauranga), ko tā tēnei mahi he tuhituhi i te mātauranga Māori e pā ana ki te cryosphere, ā, ka taparere te rewanga whatinga toka iti ki te tauwhiti i waenga i te para o ngā paparanga me ngā āhuatanga o te huarere. Mā te kōtuinga o ngā ara e rua ka whakapai i te whakatau i ngā urupare awa kōpaka ki te āhuarangi hurihuri.