Himalayan glaciers melting faster than ever before, study shows

Scientists warned on Tuesday (June 20) that Himalayan glaciers are melting faster than ever because of climate change, exposing communities to unpredictable and costly disasters. Citing a study from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), news agency AFP reported that the glaciers disappeared 65 per cent faster from 2011 to 2020 compared with the previous decade. 

The study said that the glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region are a crucial water source for around 240 million people in the mountainous regions, as well as for another 1.65 billion people in the river valleys below. It added that based on current emission trajectories, the glaciers could lose up to 80 per cent of their current volume by the end of the century. 

Philippus Wester, the lead author of the study, told AFP on Tuesday that as it gets warmer, ice would melt, which was expected, but what is unexpected and worrying is the speed. 

"This is going much faster than we thought," Wester added. 

The ICIMOD study pointed out that even though global warming is limited to 1.5 to 2.0 degree Celsius from pre-industrial levels agreed to in the Paris climate treaty, the glaciers are expected to lose a third to a half of their volume by 2100. 

"It underscores the need for urgent climate action," Wester said, adding that every small increment will have huge impacts and there is work needed on climate mitigation. The author also said that improving technologies and previously classified high-resolution satellite imagery meant predictions could be made with a good degree of accuracy.

The glaciers in the HKH region feed 10 of the world's most important river systems and directly or indirectly supply billions of people with food, energy, clean air, and income.

Izabella Koziell, the ICIMOD's deputy chief said, "With two billion people in Asia reliant on the water that glaciers and snow here hold, the consequences of losing this cryosphere (a frozen zone) are too vast to contemplate."

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