ASSIGNMENT OF HYDROLOGY ON:

Himalayan Glaciers And Its Current

Issues

Group Members :
1. Ishwar Dubey (2010JE0967)
2. Rakesh Kumar Mahato (2010JE0973)
3. Rahul (2010JE0975)
4. Amit Kumar Nayak (2010JE0990)
5. Animesh Mishra (2010JE0950)

Section : E

(Teacher’s Signature)
INTRODUCTION
There are growing concerns about the impact melting glaciers in the Himalayas will have on
about 1.5 billion people of vulnerable densely populated communities in downstream river
basins. Yet there is huge uncertainty about how snow and glacial melting in the Himalayan
region will continue to respond to climate change, and how such change will affect ecosystems
and human well-being. There is a notable lack of available observations in order to make robust
quantitative assessments about the significance and extent of the issue. The threat associated with
the potential consequences is so great that the scant knowledge must not be an excuse for failing
to act. Scientific research is critical to help reduce uncertainty and to underpin sustainable
mitigation and adaptation
strategies.

“We have to recognize the need for much greater engagement and coordination
with all our neighbours which share the Himalayas”
- Prime Minister Manmohan Singh(2009)

In this context following are some of the issues which need to be highlighted:-

• What are the potential and observed impacts on water resources and the regional hydrological
cycle, and what are the consequences for humans
and ecosystems?
• The Himalayas glaciers and snow pack are known as the ‘water tower of Asia’. How are they
changing in today’s climate in the Himalayas?

GLACIERS OF HIMALAYAS
Himalayas is the origin of many glaciers and important rivers of Asia. The range offers different
kinds of glaciers. Especially the Jammu and Kashmir glaciers and glaciers of Ladakh are of
different types. But the most important is the Siachen glacier, which is the largest glacier outside
the Polar Regions. Some of the important glaciers in the Jammu and Kashmir are as follows:

• Siachen Glacier
• Baltoro Glacier
• Biafo Glacier
• Nubra Glacier
• Hispur Glacier

Siachen Glacier
The Siachen glacier is located in the extreme north-central part of Jammu and Kashmir near the
India and Tibet border. It stretches to a length of about 72 km; it is the largest glacier in the
world outside the Polar Regions. Siachen is situated on the north-facing slopes of the Karakoram
Range. It is the source of the Mutzgah or Shaksgam River that flows parallel to the Karakoram
Range before it enters Tibet. The central part of Siachen glacier is a vast snowfield. It mainly lies
in a vast trough, which is about 2 km wide and scattered with rocks and boulders on its sides.
Large tributary glaciers like the Mamostang and Shelkar Chorten open into the main glacier from
both sides of its trough. Numbers of icefalls are formed at the meeting point of trunk glacier and
small valley glaciers. A group of three glaciers i.e. North, Central and South lies to the east of the
Siachen. It is known as the Rimo glacier group. The altitude of this glacier is between 6,000 and
7,000 m above sea level. The Siachen glacier can be traveled via Skardu in Ladakh.

Baltoro Glacier
Baltoro glacier is located in Jammu and Kashmir in an area called Baltistan on the southern
slopes of the central Karakoram Range. It stretches to a length of 62 km. It is the second largest
glacier in the Himalayan region. Shigar River, which is a tributary of the Indus River, originates
from this glacier. Other large tributary glaciers supply the main Baltoro glacier. The central part
has a vast snowfield and the trough of this glacier is very wide. This glacier can be accessed via
Skardu in Ladakh.
Biafo Glacier
Biafo glacier is located in Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir in an area called Baltistan on the south
slopes of the Karakoram Range. It stretches to a length of 60 km. The main stream, which
originates from Biafo glacier flows into a tributary of the Indus River called the Shigar River. In
this area there is no vegetative cover.

Hispar Glacier
In the Himalayan region Hispar glacier is the third largest glacier. It is located in Ladakh, Jammu
and Kashmir on southern slopes of the Karakoram Range. It stretches to a length of 60 km. There
is no vegetation of any kind in this area. Many small glaciers join the main glacier on both sides.
The central part of the glacier is a vast snowfield while its sides contain debris eroded by the
huge body of moving ice.

Nubra Glacier
The Nubra glacier is located in Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir on the southern slopes of the
Karakoram Range. Nubra River originates from this glacier flows into the Shyok River. Just like
the other glaciers the central portion of the glacier forms a vast snowfield. Vegetation is totally
absent in this area as it lies above the snow line. The place can be access via Leh in Ladakh.

Among the other glaciers in Uttaranchal regions are as follows:

• Bandarpunch Glacier
• Dokriani Glacier
• Chorbari Bamak Glacier
• Khatling Glacier
• Doonagiri Glacier
• Tiprabamak Glacier

THE GLACIERS IN CONTEXT

The state of melting glaciers:-

There was no consensus on the changes in nature of ice cover in the Himalayas (including the
Tibetan plateau). The main glacial parameters are length, area, volume, mass and thickness and
the glacier length alone can not be taken as the only parameter that signifies mass balance
changes. In general, the majority of Himalayan glaciers are shrinking in area and thickness and
the extent and nature of shrinkage has not changed significantly over the last 100 years. The
nature of changes in glaciers are varied and complex with some glaciers exhibiting changes in
length in an observational relationship to area and mass while some have changed in length with
little change in mass and yet others show changes in thickness but not length. Glacier behaviour
varies across the region with higher retreat rates recorded in the east.

Impact of Dust, Black Carbon and Chemical

Pollution on Himalayan Glaciers:-

Causes for climate change over the Himalayas include aerosols with black carbon and dust,
deforestation, forest fires, human-induced pollution and many other anthropogenic activities
besides the emission of greenhouse gases. The black carbon deposition in Tibetan Himalayas is
higher than other places in the northern hemisphere and has been a cause of significant albedo
reduction in central Tibetan plateau. Studies in USA indicate that dust-induced albedo decrease
could cause early snow melts by as much as 30 days and increased evaporation and transpiration
due to early melt-out may decrease basin runoff by 5 per cent. Similar effects are possible in
Himalayas too but there is severe lack of data that precludes drawing of any conclusions on dust
and black carbon done yet on the source identification of atmospheric chemical pollutants, their
composition and deposition in the Himalayas-Tibetan Plateau. Also, the role of aerosol
deposition was realized to be a complex one as its impact on the albedo varies greatly with the
type of glaciers. In order to systematically prepare realistic models of all the above sources
causing the environmental degradation, there is a need of equipping some of the observatories
with devices for collecting related ground and atmospheric observations.
Temperature trends:-
Ground observations of air temperature measurements show strong spatial and seasonal gradients
across the Himalayas-Tibetan Plateau. For example, the atmosphere over the western Himalayas,
which contain major glaciers and make headwater to major rivers including the Indus and the
Ganges, were found to be associated with enhanced warming trends in the past three decades
from the longest record of microwave satellite observations. The two crucial seasons, i.e. the
winter season (snow accumulation period) and premonsoon season (snow-melt period and
important to the onset of the monsoon) are associated with increasing temperatures most
discernible in the past 2-3 decade period. Among ground measurements, however, there is an
urgent need to have adequate data quality control and dissemination of data in public domain in
order to fill the gaps between various data sources and make consensus on the magnitude of
temperature trends.

The State of Melting Glaciers of Himalayas

and Climate Change
Are the glaciers melting faster? Will the Himalayan glaciers disappear within
this century? These questions gained a special significance when a report IPCC quoted on
fast rates of Indian Glacier melting turned out to be from a NGO, made without observations or
scientific analysis. The answers to these questions are representative of the issues surrounding
climate change debate. While a majority of scientists agree on the global warming phenomena
based on a large amount of observed data and model studies, the complexity of the earth system
processes and feedbacks, that are not fully understood yet, lack of observations in a number of
key areas, especially in the tropics, demand further studies and analysis to clarify issues and to
improve understanding of earth processes. This column will examine such issues, bringing
together information from different studies that describe the current status understanding.
In a recent symposium on the issue, organized at UNU, Prof. Shuji Iwata called for increased
observations and mass balance studies of various types of glaciers to understand better
implications on water resource and sea level rise.
A completely new perspective on a driver that increase the rate of Himalayan glacier melting
was brought in by Prof. Ramanathan and his team. In their studies on global dimming, caused by
aerosols in the atmosphere, they describe the increased heating effect on upper atmosphere by
reflected solar energy by aerosols. This contribute to a significant increase of melting rates of
Himalayan glaciers.
The effect of on water resources and sediments on Asian transboundary basin are complex and
need reassessment based on new and emerging evidence. We ask our researchers to send us a
brief overview of their research with at least two peer reviewed references to compile the current
status of knowledge related to this issue.

CURRENT ISSUES
‘Himalayan glaciers advancing, despite global
warming’
Charu Sudan Kasturi, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, January 25, 2011

Several glaciers in the greater Himalayas are either advancing or are stable, American and
German researchers have found, corroborating India's stand against a controversial prediction
by the UN's climate change agency that the glaciers would vanish by 2030. More than 50% of
the glaciers in the Kara
koram region of the northwest Himalayas are stable or are advancing, the scientists have
reported in this week's Nature Geoscience journal.
Dirk Scherler and Manfred Strecker from Potsdam University, Germany and Bodo Bookhagen
from the University of California Santa Barbara used remoter sensing images to track frontal
changes and surface velocities of glaciers in the greater Himalaya between 2000 and 2008.

They found wide variations in the response of glaciers in the different parts of the Himalayas
to climate change.

The research paper argues that the variations are a result of differences in the debris cover
enjoyed by different glaciers – a factor that has so far been neglected while studying the impact
of climate change on glaciers.

The scientists found that while more than 65% of all Himalayan glaciers studied were
retreating, the glaciers in the Tibetan plateau, where debris cover is largely absent, are
retreating fastest.

Glaciers in the central Himalaya region are relatively better covered by debris and typically
have stable fronts, the scientists argued.

But possibly the most surprising finding of the research relates to the Karakoram region, where
more than half the glaciers are stable or are even advancing.
The findings support India's opposition to claims by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) – the UN's climate change agency -- in 2008 of the Himalayan glaciers
disappearing.

Indian scientists had countered the IPCC claims by presenting their own data that suggested
that any impact of climate change on the Himalayan glaciers was far more subtle and
complicated than the IPCC had suggested.

Himalayan glaciers advancing not melting, wow the miracle of

global warming
A new study by scientists at the Universities of California and Potsdam has found that half of the
glaciers in the Karakoram range, in the northwestern Himlaya, are in fact advancing and that
global warming is not the deciding factor in whether a glacier survives or melts.

Dr Bodo Bookhagen, Dirk Scherler and Manfred Strecker studied 286 glaciers between the
Hindu Kush on the Afghan-Pakistan border to Bhutan, taking in six areas.

Their report, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, found the key factor affecting their
advance or retreat is the amount of debris – rocks and mud – strewn on their surface.

More than 50 per cent of observed glaciers in the Karakoram region in the northwestern
Himalaya are actually advancing or stable.

Future Impact on Glaciers by Changes

• Glacier melting in the Himalayas is projected to increase flooding and will affect water
resources within the next two to three decades.
• Climate change will compound the pressures on natural resources and the environment due to
rapid urbanization, industrialization, and economic development.
• Crop yields could decrease up to 30 per cent in South Asia by the mid-21st century.
• Mortality due to diarrhoea primarily associated with floods and droughts will rise in South
Asia.
• Sea-level rise will exacerbate inundation, storm surge, erosion, and other coastal hazards.

REFERENCES
• UNEP (2009), “Recent trends in melting glaciers, tropospheric temperatures over the
Himalayas and summer monsoon rainfall over India”
Division of Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
P.O. Box 30552
Nairobi 00100, Kenya
• IPCC. (2007). “Climate change 2007: impacts, adaptation and vulnerability”
http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publications_and_data_reports.shtml
(E-Book)

• Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_IPCC_Fourth_Assessment_Report#Project
ed_date_of_melting_of_Himalayan_glaciers

• Hindustan Times
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Himalayan-glaciers-advancing-despite-global-
warming/Article1-654581.aspx

• Himalayan Glaciers, By : Naseeruddin Ahmad

• Himalayan Snow And Glaciers, By : Jagdish Bahadur
• An Inconvient Truth, By : Albert Gore