Environmental balance on thin ice

Ice acts like a protective cover over the Earth and our oceans. These bright white spots reflect excess heat back into space and keep the planet cooler. In theory, the Arctic remains colder than the equator because more of the heat from the sun is reflected off the ice, back into space. Glaciers around the world can range from ice that is several hundred to several thousand years old and provide a scientific record of how climate has changed over time. Through their study, we gain valuable information about the extent to which the planet is rapidly warming. They provide scientists with a record of how climate has changed over time.

Today, about 10% of land area on Earth is covered with glacial ice. Almost 90% is in Antarctica, while the remaining 10% is in the Greenland ice cap. Rapid glacial melt in Antarctica and Greenland also influences ocean currents, as massive amounts of very cold glacial-melt water entering warmer ocean waters is slowing ocean currents. And as ice on land melts, sea levels will continue to rise.

All this does not force us to rethink our activity. But, recently the news of Himalayan glaciers rapidly melting attracted our attention. It is said that in a few decades, all the glaciers of the Himalayas could be gone, including the one on Mt. Everest. The Indian government is aware of and maintains data regarding melting of Himalayan glaciers. Various Indian institutes, universities, organisations (Geological Survey of India (GSI), Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Space Application Centre (SAC), Indian Institute of Science (IISc) etc) monitor Himalayan glaciers for various scientific studies including glacier melting and have reported accelerated heterogeneous mass loss in Himalayan glaciers.

The mean retreat rate of Hindu Kush Himalayan glaciers is only increasing rapidly and it is affecting the flows in Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra river basins. However, glaciers in the Karakoram region have shown comparatively minor length change indicating the stable condition. The University of Leeds reconstructed the size and ice surfaces of 14,798 Himalayan glaciers during the Little Ice Age, which was 400-700 years ago. The study concludes that the Himalayan glaciers have lost ice ten times more quickly over the last few decades than on average since the last major glacier expansion.

In the last 400 to 700 years, the glaciers have lost around 40 per cent area – shrinking from 28,000 sq.km to around 19,600 sq.km. The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) through its autonomous institute NCPOR has been monitoring six glaciers in the Chandra basin (2437 sq.km area) in western Himalaya since 2013. GSI has taken up a project on melting of glaciers in Beas Basin, South Chenab basin and Chandra Basin in Himachal Pradesh, Shyok and Nubra basin in Ladakh during Field Season 2021-22. The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has supported various R&D projects for studying Himalayan Glaciers under the National Mission for Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE) and National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change (NMSKCC).

The mass balance studies conducted for some Himalayan glaciers by University of Kashmir, Sikkim University, IISc and WIHG, revealed that the majority of Himalayan glaciers are melting or retreating at varying rates. Similar are the statistics from other reports too. None of this is good news for the people of the Sub-Continent. What future will countries which live in the past have?