Global warming and heatwave resulting in fast melting of the glaciers in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh

With the whole of India facing one of the worst heatwaves, Jammu and Kashmir has been no different. The direct impact of the heatwave has been on theglaciersin the Himalayan region. According to data, there are around eighteen thousandglaciersin Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and all of them are meltingrapidly as the heatwave continues in the region.

The heatwave and increase in normal temperatures over the years have led to massive melting of theglaciersin the region. The biggestglacierin the Kashmir Valley is KolahoiGlacier, and experts say that it has lost around 23 per cent of its mass in the last few decades due to the rise in temperatures and below-normal precipitation inwinter.

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Air Pollution, deforestation and the rise in normal temperatures are considered to be the main factors for the melting of theseglaciersin the higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir.

''It is a major concern. The melting of glaciers if you look at Indian Himalayan glaciers, it's already under the adverse effect of climate change. We are seeing most of the himalayanglaciers melting. They were because of the impact of the increase in the temperatures, and the outcome of the climate change,"said Shakil Romshoo, VC, Islamic University Science and Technology.

"Now recently what we have seen is the heatwave is becoming an annual issue, every year we are witnessing the heat waves in south Asia. If we look at mainland India and Pakistan the temperatures have touched above 50 degrees. This has a big impact on the glaciers. We have been monitoring the change and melting in the last five years in terms of the length, breadth and thickness of the glaciers. This is a major concern as we call it the water tower of Asia."

"800 million people are dependent on this for drinking water, agriculture, horticulture, power generation, and every sector of the economy. We have said that going by this rate, 70 per cent of the glaciers if the current trend of climate change continues, will vanish by the end of this century," he added.

Horticulture and Agriculture are the major contributors to the GDP of Jammu and Kashmir. Most of the valley's agriculture and horticulture land depends on the melting of snow on higher reaches which fills up the streams and rivers. Data has revealed that Kashmir Valley has lost over 30,000 hectares of agricultural land in ten years.

''It may not impact the water availabilityin a day or months, but it will happen slowly. The change in winter precipitation has been below normal. The winter precipitation replenishesthe water bodies, and this is not happening due to less precipitation. Autumn is the most hit as the water hits the lowest. We normally used to stay around 5-6 feet and now the same water level remains below zero. The water shortage is already in Srinagar and many other parts of the valley due to it, '' said Faizan Arif, weather analyst and forecaster.

The erratic melting of these glaciers in the higher reaches will also impact the power generation in these areas. Experts believe the water scarcity in the region could have an adverse impact on the hydroelectric power projects. The power projects in Jammu and Kashmir are the main source ofelectricity for the whole of northern India.