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The Curious case of ‘Melting Himalayas’; Glaciers melting at rates faster than ever before

Because of Global Warming, the Himalayan glaciers are melting at an exceptional rate. The Government of India is aware of the melting Himalayan glaciers and maintains the data regarding the same. Various Indian institutes, universities and organizations such as the Geological Survey of India (GSI), Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Space Application Centre (SAC), Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and many others keep a keen eye on the Himalayan glaciers for various scientific studies including glacier melting.

These institutions have reported an accelerated diversified mass loss in Himalayan glaciers. The average glacier retreat rate of Hindu Kush Himalayan glaciers is 14.9 ± 15.1 meters per annum (m/a); which varies from 12.7 ± 13.2 meters per annum in Indus, 15.5 ± 14.4 meters per annum in Ganga and 20.2 ± 19.7 meters per annum in Brahmaputra river basins. At the same time, the glaciers in the Karakoram region have shown a comparatively minor change of -1.37 ± 22.8 meters per annum, which indicates a stable condition.

A statement released by the Ministry of Earth Science said that the University of Leeds had conducted a study regarding the rapid melting of Himalayan glaciers which was published in the ‘Journal Nature Scientific Reports in 2021’. The University reconstructed the size and ice surfaces of 14,798 Himalayan glaciers that were present during the ‘Little Ice Age’ between 1303 to 1860, i.e., around 400-700 years ago. The study concluded that the glaciers in the Himalayas are losing ice at a rate at least ten times faster than the average rate over the past centuries. The researchers had further said that the rate of loss has accelerated in the last few decades and concurs with the human instigated climate change.

The researchers had calculated that in the last several hundred years, the Himalayan glaciers have lost roughly 40 per cent of their area. Since 2013, the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) is monitoring six glaciers in the Chandra basin that is 2437 square kilometers in area in the western Himalayas, through its autonomous institute NCPOR. The annual rate of melting ranges between -0.3±0.06 to -1.13±0.22 meter water equivalent per year during 2013-2020. Similarly, a mean thinning of approximately 50±11 meters with a mean annual mass loss of –1.09±​ 0.32 meters water equivalent per year was observed for the Baspa basin during 2000-2011.

During the Field Season 2021-22, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) took up the study of glacier melting in Beas Basin, South Chenab Basin and Chandra Basin in Himachal Pradesh, as well as that of the Shyok and Nubra basin in Ladakh.

Glacier
An image of the Himalayan Mountains

Under the National Mission for Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE) and the National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change (NMSKCC), the Department of Science and Technology (DST) has supported various research and development projects for studying the Himalayan Glaciers. The University of Kashmir, Sikkim University, IISc and WIHG had conducted mass balance studies for some Himalayan glaciers which revealed that the majority of the Himalayan glaciers are melting or retreating at varying rates.

Tracking the melting glaciers

WIHG is monitoring glaciers in Uttarakhand, which reveal that the Dokriani Glacier in the Bhagirathi basin has been retreating at the rate of 15-20 meters per annum since 1995. At the same time, the Chorabari Glacier in the Mandakini basin has retreated at the rate of 9-11 meters per annum during 2003-2017. Durung-Drung and Pensilungpa glaciers in Suru basin, Ladakh is being monitored by WIHG and are retreating at 12 meters per annum and approximately 5.6 meters per annum, respectively.

A recent publication suggested that at the regional scale, mass loss rate varies between −0.41 ± 0.11 meter water equivalent per year in the eastern, −0.58 ± 0.01 meters water equivalent per year in the central, −0.55 ± 0.37 meter water equivalent per year in the western Himalaya and −0.10 ± 0.07 meters water equivalent per year in the Karakoram the region in the last decade.

Melting glaciers have a significant impact on water resources of the Himalayan rivers, such as Ganga, Indus and Brahmaputra, due to the change in the glacier basin hydrology, downstream water budget, impact on hydropower plants due to variation in discharge, flash floods and sedimentation. The risks related to glacier hazards also get magnified due to the enhanced number and volume of glacier lakes, accelerated flash floods and Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs).

Though the mountains are millions of years old, their glaciers are extremely sensitive to temperature and climate change. Man-made climate change is solely responsible for the unexpected rate of loss of the glaciers. Burning fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal release greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. These gases cause the temperature of the atmosphere and oceans to rise, which in turn speeds up the melting of the ice.

We will have to act urgently and with conviction if we wish to reduce and mitigate the impact of global warming.

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