Glaciers in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh are melting at a ‘significant’ rate, according to a first-of-its-kind study which used satellite data to find that over 1,200 glaciers in the Himalayan region saw an annual reduction in mass of 35 centimetres (cm) on an average between 2000 and 2012. The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, was carried over the Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh region, including areas across the Line of Control (LoC) and Line of Actual Control (LAC), and in all 12,243 glaciers were studied for thickness and mass changes.
“In general, it was observed that the glaciers in the Pir Panjal range are melting at a higher rate — more than one metre per year — while the glaciers in the Karakoram range are melting relatively at a slower rate, around 10 cms per year,” noted Professor Shakil Ahmad Romshoo, the corresponding author of the study.
“Some glaciers are even advancing or stable in the Karakoram range. In other mountain ranges like the Greater Himalayan range, Zanskar range, Shamabari range, Leh ranges, the glaciers are undoubtedly melting but the rate of melting is variable,” stated Romshoo, Dean of Research at the University of Kashmir in Srinagar.
The researchers noted that while glacier melting is a continuous process and the shrinkage in the area of the glaciers is being estimated routinely, thickness and mass changes are not always possible because of lack of satellite data. There are also limitations and challenges associated with field-based studies in the mountainous Himalaya, they said. The team noted that during one decade of observation in this study, the region has lost about 70.32 gigatonnes of glacier mass, which is “quite significant.”
The knowledge generated about the glacier thickness changes across different mountain ranges in the data-scarce Himalayan region is vital for determining the sustainability of water resources in the south Asian region, according to researchers. Melting of the glaciers in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh are going to impact water, food and energy security with the consequent adverse effect on the dependent livelihoods, they noted. The researchers explained that the main drivers of the glacial melt in the Himalayan region are increasing temperatures and decreasing snow precipitation, resulting from greenhouse gas emissions from industrialisation and increasing use of fossil fuels the world over.
A study, published in the journal Climatic Change on July 29, found that Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh may witness a temperature increase of up to 6.9 degrees Celsius by the end of the century due to climate change, warning that the glaciers in this Himalayan region could shrink by 85 per cent if the projections come true.
