The Himalayan glaciers are melting at a terrifying rate. How long will it be until they cease to exist?
The majestic ice caps of the Himalayas are melting at a horrifying rate. The Himalayan mountain range is home to the third largest amount of glacier ice, after Antarctica and the Arctic, and is often referred to as the Third Pole. However, recent research suggests that “the massive ice sheets in the region have shrunk 10 times faster in the past four decades than during the previous seven centuries,” and these glaciers have lost about 40% of their area in the last couple centuries, amassing to an estimated 390 to 586 cubic kilometers of ice. Here are the reasons behind why glaciers are melting and the impacts this event has on the human population and the environment.
The Science Behind It
The current rate of glacial melting is at least ten times higher than the average rate over the past centuries. Studies show that glaciers with significant amounts of natural debris are melting faster, contributing to around 46.5% of the total volume loss despite only making up 7.5% of total glaciers. Pollutants like volcanic ash, soot, and dust gather on the surface of the ice and absorb sunlight, increasing the rate at which the glaciers are melting. While pollutants are certainly a major factor of melting ice, the biggest culprit of our melting glaciers is global warming that stemmed from the industrial revolution. The greenhouse gases that the revolution unleashed upon our world like carbon dioxide and methane trap infrared radiation that the Earth reflects back to the atmosphere, slowly increasing the world’s temperature. Glaciers that once melted during the summer and returned to their original size in the winter are no longer re-forming due to these harmful gasses. As shown in the graph below, almost all of the Himalayan glaciers are losing mass year after year, and that increased melted water has consequences on humans and the environment.
The Effect on Ourselves and the Environment
The increased speed at which the Himalayan glaciers are melting has led to increased sea levels, endangering coastal cities and increasing the risk for saltwater intrusion in aquifers and farmland irrigation. Historically, glaciers melt partially in the summer and grow back in the warmer months, but as summers become warmer due to global warming, glaciers are melting faster than they can grow back. This occurrence has had devastating impacts on those who depend on the glacier melts as a source of water. Moreover, the newly released fresh melted water impacts ocean currents, and if the currents change, weather patterns and the distribution of heat are also disrupted. The thermohaline circulation that drives water throughout the world is altered because the new addition of fresh water disrupts the usual system involving saltier, colder water sinking. For humans, coastal populations may be forced to relocate from vulnerable areas or experience more extreme temperatures due to the change in thermohaline circulation.
These massive glaciers melting is just one of many pieces of evidence that global climate change is not to be taken lightly, and must be combated by all countries in order to effectively diminish its effects. More international agreements like the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Climate Agreement must be passed in order to combat this environmentally devastating occurrence. Global leaders like the United States and China need to take the lead in promising emission reductions and contributing to the United Nations’ global fund in order to help lift developing nations out of poverty and decrease reliance on industrialization. If nations do not collaborate and find compromises to minimize the effects of climate change, the glaciers melting, though in of itself having detrimental effects, would just be the beginning of our problems.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Emma Newburger. (2021, December 20). Himalayan glaciers are melting at an extraordinary rate, research finds. CNBC. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/20/himalayan-glaciers-melting-at-extraordinary-rate-research-finds-.html#:~:text=Researchers%20found%20that%20the%20Himalayan,levels%200.92%20to%201.38%20millimeters.
NASA. (2014, September 16). How does debris influence glaciers? – climate change: Vital signs of the planet. NASA. Retrieved April 14, 2022, from https://climate.nasa.gov/news/712/how-does-debris-influence-glaciers/
ScienceDaily. (2021, December 20). Himalayan glaciers melting at 'exceptional rate'. ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 14, 2022, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211220083104.htm
World Wildlife Fund. (n.d.). Why are glaciers and sea ice melting? WWF. Retrieved April 14, 2022, from https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/why-are-glaciers-and-sea-ice-melting
IMAGES
Photo by Aryan Singh on Unsplash; https://unsplash.com/photos/WBcpokx6FgA
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