Glaciers: India
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Debris cover is not protecting Himalayan glaciers
The glacier melt areas in the Himalayas are experiencing a significant loss of ice due to global warming, despite the presence of a blanketing layer of debris over half of the area, a new study found. The study , conducted by the Pune-based Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), focused on the observed rate of ice loss between the melt areas covered under debris and those without, and explained why the areas covered by thick layers of rock and debris are experiencing an equally significant loss of ice as their counterparts.
Such areas comprise 50% of the glacier melt areas in the mountain range, and will continue to lose more ice compared to the debrisfree areas in the long run, the IISER study warned.
According to lead researcher Argha Banerjee, assi stant professor (earth and climate science) at IISER, the typical high and steep valley walls surrounding Himalayan glaciers supply a lot of rock debris, leading to a layer of debris on the lower melt-zone that acts as an insulating blanket, reducing ice melt.
Banerjee told TOI that shrinking glaciers in the Himalayas have a profoundly negative effect on water security, including water needs for agriculture and hydropower generation, for people living in the Indus basin and in the upper reaches of the Ganga-Brahmaputra basin.
Glacial meltwater supply, Banerjee said, acts to sof ten the impact of drought in these areas.
“Glacier shrinkage exposes mountain people to increased risk from hazards like glacial lake outburst floods,“ he said.
The IISER study was recently published in the international journal, `The Cryosphere'.
