“Although Lonar lake, a Meteor Impact crater with salty water, about 600 km from here, has been an attractive study material for astrophysicists across the globe. This is the first study on lake sediments to understand the palaeoclimate," Prof Nathani Basavaiah of Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG) in Navi Mumbai said.

"Lakes are the historians of nature. The sediments deposited in the lake record everything that occurs in the catchment area and floods, droughts, human activity. Lonar is the only lake in central India with approximately 50,000 years continuous pre-anthropogenic record," Basavaiah said.

Such long records of history are essential to determine the human impact on natural climate change, he said.

The key to understanding their message lies in analysing the sediments and obtaining the correct age that in turn will tell about the exact occurrence of event, Basavaiah, who has joined hands with German scientists to study Lonar lake's sediments said.

Lakes in central India are of particular importance because they lie in the heart of the Indian monsoon zone, the scientist said adding that the data from the Lonar lake has implications for all of India.

Lonar is unique in another way. It is the youngest and the best preserved impact crater in basalt and also provides an analogue for studying impact craters on other planets like in Mars, Basavaiah said.

The Indian monsoon is the primary source of rainfall in the Indian subcontinent and, as demonstrated by the occurrence of extreme climate events in recent years, variations in its intensity have widespread socio-economic impact.

Recent studies by Prof B N Goswami, Director, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune had pointed about an increase in the frequency and magnitude of extreme rainfall events over India against the backdrop of rising global surface temperatures. However, this study is based on instrumental records covering only five decades.

Basavaiah said, in order to perceive trends, linkages, casual mechanisms, and eventual assessment of future changes in the frequency of extreme events relevant to the societies, long-term high resolution palaeoclimate records are essential.

"This issue needs to be urgently addressed, because any changes in the nature of the influencing factors, or the magnitude of their impact (like severity of droughts and floods) would be critical for infrastructural planning and securing food supplies in a global warming scenario," he said.

The Indo-German team has highlighted the importance of studying various components of the ecosystem like tree rings, lakes and peats among others.

The research on Indian lakes is being undertaken in India under the leadership of Director IIG Prof Archana Bhattacharya and is being coordinated by Basavaiah.

As a first step on the Lonar, research has been taken up with generous cooperation of the Forest and Wildlife Department of Maharashtra