Himalayan Glacial Mass Down By 20% In Past 40 Years - Science

[hatrack]

The massive glaciers of the Himalayas, which hold one of Earth's largest reserves of snow and ice, have dwindled by one-fifth in the past 4 decades. A team of Indian geologists and remote sensing experts published the alarming news this week--a grim warning that if the trend continues, it could jeopardize the fresh water supply of more than 500 million people in India.

The study, reported 10 January in Current Science, compared data from the oldest known glacial maps of the region (the 1962 Survey of India) to recent data from Indian remote sensing satellites. Anil Kulkarni of the Indian Space Research Organization in Ahmedabad and his team estimated glacial retreat for 466 glaciers in three major river basins, the Chenab, Parbati, and Baspa. They found that glacial extent had declined from 2077 square km in 1962 to 1628 square km at present, or about 21%. At the same time, the number of glaciers increased due to fragmentation. Ice fields and small structures known as glaciarates have shown more extensive deglaciation. For example, 127 glaciarates and ice fields less than 1 sq. km retreated 38% from 1962. "Small glaciers are more sensitive to global warming," Kulkarni notes. The results indicate that glacial fragmentation, higher retreat of small glaciers, and climate change are all influencing the sustainability of Himalayan glaciers.

EDIT

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2007/112/1

[shireen]

1. heart-breaking

our planet is going through a dramatic unnatural change, and it's all happening in a blip of geologic time. But even with the increasing number of stories such as this, there seems to be no sense of urgency in our society.

It's very scary, and I fear for the future generations who have to live with this mess.
:cry:

[donsu]

2. and it's melting faster every year

that's drinking water, when it's gone, it's gone.

[kestrel91316]

3. Headlines 2027: Himalayan glaciers down 40% in 20 years.

That's just my prediction. But I've been sadly right about way too many of my predictions about the sad state of our world..............

[hatrack]

4. Awfully optimistic, don't you think?

:evilgrin: