Damian Carrington - Himalayan glacier melting doubled since 2000, spy satellites show
A landmark report
published in February found that at least a third
of the ice in the Hindu Kush-Himalaya ranges was
already doomed to melt by the end of the century, even if drastic
action to cut emissions was taken immediately. Without action, two-thirds would
go. Either way, serious consequences will be felt by those who rely on the
great rivers that flow from the peaks into India, Pakistan, China and other
nations. “It’s the climate crisis you haven’t heard of,” said Philippus Wester,
at the International Centre for
Integrated Mountain Development, who led the February study and said the
new work was very convincing. “Increasingly uncertain and irregular water
supplies will impact the 1 billion people living downstream from the Himalaya
mountains in south Asia.”
The melting of Himalayan glaciers has doubled since the turn of the century, with more than a quarter of all ice lost over the last four decades, scientists have revealed. The accelerating losses indicate a “devastating” future for the region, upon which a billion people depend for regular water. The scientists combined declassified US spy satellite images from the mid-1970s with modern satellite data to create the first detailed, four-decade record of ice along the 2,000km (1,200-mile) mountain chain. The analysis shows that 8bn tonnes of ice are being lost every year and not replaced by snow, with the lower level glaciers shrinking in height by 5 meters annually. The study shows that only global heating caused by human activities can explain the heavy melting. In previous work, local weather and the impact of air pollution had complicated the picture.
Joshua Maurer, from Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth observatory, who led the new research, said: “This is the clearest picture yet of how fast Himalayan glaciers are melting since 1975, and why.” The research is published in the journal Science Advances... read more:
