Bangalore, India — Glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalayan mountain range are melting at an unprecedented rate and could lose up to 80% of their current volume this century, according to a new report.
Tuesday’s report from the Kathmandu-based International Center for Integrated Mountain Development warned that flash floods and avalanches would become more likely in coming years, and that fresh water availability for the nearly 2 billion people who feed on 12 rivers would be affected. live in the low-lying areas of On the mountains
Snow and ice in the Hindu Kush Himalayan range is an important source of water for the rivers that flow through 16 countries in Asia and provide fresh water to 240 million people in the mountains and 1.65 billion people in the lower reaches.
“People living in these mountains, which have contributed almost nothing to global warming, are at high risk due to climate change,” said Amina Maharajan, a migration expert and one of the authors of the report. “Current adaptation efforts are grossly inadequate, and we are highly concerned that without more support, these communities will be unable to cope.”
Various earlier reports have found that the cryosphere – the area on Earth covered with ice and snow – is the most affected by climate change. Recent research found that the glaciers on Mount Everest, for example, have lost 2,000 years of ice in the past 30 years.
“We map for the first time the relationships between cryosphere change with water, ecosystems and societies in this mountainous region,” Maharjan said.
One of the key findings of Tuesday’s report is that Himalayan glaciers have disappeared 65% faster since 2010 than in the previous decade, and that shrinking snow cover due to global warming is threatening people living downstream. Fresh water will be less. The study found that 200 glacial lakes in these mountains are considered dangerous, and the region could see a significant increase in glacial lake outburst floods by the end of the century.
The study found that communities in mountain regions are being affected more by climate change than in many other parts of the world. It says changes to the glaciers, ice and permafrost of the Hindu Kush Himalayan region, driven by global warming, are “unprecedented and largely irreversible.”
The effects of climate change are already felt, sometimes acutely, by Himalayan communities. Earlier this year the Indian mountain town of Joshimath began to submerge and residents had to be relocated within days.
“Once the ice in these regions melts, it is very difficult to get it back to its frozen form,” said Pam Pearson, director of the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative.
He said, “It is like a big ship at sea. Once snow starts falling, it is very difficult to stop it. Therefore, with glaciers, especially with large glaciers in the Himalayas, once When they start losing mass, it’s going to continue for a really long time before it stabilizes.
Pearson said it is vitally important for Earth’s ice, permafrost and ice to limit warming to the 1.5 degrees Celsius agreed at the 2015 Paris climate conference.
“I understand that most policymakers do not take the goal seriously, but irreversible changes are already occurring in the cryosphere,” she said.
,
Follow AP’s climate change coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
,
Associated Press climate and environment coverage is supported by several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative. AP is solely responsible for all content.
