Analysis carried out worldwide has persistently proven that glaciers throughout the globe have been experiencing unprecedented charges of retreat and thinning because the onset of the economic revolution within the 18th century.
“…This retreat results in the formation of recent lakes and the enlargement of present ones within the Himalayan area. These our bodies of water, created by the melting of glaciers, are often known as glacial lakes and play a vital position as freshwater sources for rivers within the Himalayan area. Nonetheless, additionally they pose important dangers, comparable to Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs), which may have devastating penalties for communities downstream,” Isro mentioned in an announcement on Monday.
For the analysis, Isro used satellite tv for pc information from 1984 to 2023, which reveals that of the two,431 glacial lakes bigger than 10 hectares recognized in 2016-17 throughout river basins, a staggering 676 lakes have grown markedly since 1984. This consists of 130 lakes inside India — 65 within the Indus basin, seven within the Ganga basin, and 58 within the Brahmaputra basin.
The long-term adjustments within the Ghepang Ghat Glacial Lake space (Credit score: Isro)
The adjustments have been drastic, with 601 of the increasing lakes greater than doubling in measurement. Ten lakes grew 1.5 to 2 occasions bigger, whereas 65 expanded 1.5 occasions. The evaluation discovered lots of the bulging lakes at greater elevations, with 314 between 4,000-5,000 metres and 296 above 5,000 metres.
The glacial lakes are categorised based mostly on their formation course of into 4 broad classes, specifically Moraine-dammed (water dammed by moraine), Ice-dammed (water dammed by ice), Erosion (water dammed in depressions fashioned by erosion), and different glacial lakes.
“Among the many 676 increasing lakes, the vast majority of them are Moraine-dammed (307) adopted by Erosion (265), different (96), and Ice-dammed (8) glacial lakes, respectively,” Isro mentioned.
One instance is Ghepang Ghat lake in Himachal Pradesh, which has grown 178% bigger from 36.49 to 101.3 hectares between 1989-2022 at a charge of almost 2 hectares per yr.
As glaciers quickly soften, the swelling lakes not solely point out monumental environmental adjustments but in addition elevate dangers of glacial lake outburst floods that may unleash devastating flooding downstream into mountain communities.
