Himalayan ice melts 10 times faster
Amman Today
publish date 2021-12-22 09:57:34
Climatologists have discovered that the rate of Himalayan glaciers melting has increased about 10 times in recent decades, compared to the Little Ice Age.
This era lasted in this region from 1300 AD to 1600 AD, but now the area of ice in the Himalayas has decreased by 40%. The scientists published the study in this regard in the scientific journal Scientific Reports.
One of the authors of the scientific research, Jonathan Kariwick from the University of Leeds, said: “Our observations have shown that the Himalayan ice sheet is shrinking 10 times faster than in previous centuries. This acceleration occurred, according to the researcher, over the past few decades, and it coincides with the onset of anthropogenic global warming.
Because of global warming, the temperature in the polar regions of the Earth is 4-9 degrees Celsius higher than it was in previous centuries. Scientists fear that the area of the polar ice caps will soon decrease significantly. In particular, scientists expect that the ice cover of the Alps will decrease by 45% by the middle of this century, regardless of the actions taken by humanity.
Karvik and his colleagues discovered that the Himalayan glaciers, where the largest reserves of mountain ice on Earth are concentrated, are changing in a similar way. Scientists came to this conclusion by analyzing satellite images of the Himalayas, which allowed them to track how the thickness of the ice cover in those mountains changed since the time of the so-called Little Ice Age.
Scientists called that (the Little Ice Age) the period in which temperatures on Earth decreased significantly, compared to the Middle Ages and ancient times, and this led to an increase in the area of glaciers, which in subsequent years began to gradually recede with the increase in average temperatures. Annual in the mountains and polar regions. This period lasted in the Himalayas from 1300 AD to 1600 AD.
The analysis showed that the area of the Himalayan ice sheet is about 40% less than in the past. Moreover, the majority of reductions in its area have occurred in the past few decades. According to Karvik and colleagues, the glaciers began to retreat at this time about 10 times faster than they did in the middle of the last century and in previous historical periods.
These processes have particularly affected glaciers associated with large lakes, and the scientists hope the information they have collected will help predict the evolution of Himalayan glaciers that will melt faster in the coming years. This will allow the authorities of the countries in the region to prepare in advance for her disappearance, Kariwick and his colleagues said.
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